Abstract

The Namibian people, particularly, those living within the Iishana system, which is a subset of the Cuvelai Basin, often encounter recurrent floods and droughts. After each rainy season, the Iishana system dries up gradually, hence, water for both agriculture and potable purposes becomes crucial. With the anticipated new water infrastructural development and rehabilitation of existing ones, it will be necessary to ascertain the water demand of the rural population, for the quantification of the supply potential to improve water availability. This study adopts historical water consumption per capita recommended within the Iishana system to determine the rural population demand. Considering a thirty years’ population projection, the water demand of the Iishana system is properly estimated. Moreover, the historical hydrological dataset daily data for the period 2012-2021 was used for the analysis. The current demand is estimated at 2,479 cubic meters per day. The projections of water demand for the rural population for 2033, 2043, and 2053 are 0.9, 0.5, and 0.1 Mm3/year, respectively. More so, the surface water resource potential of the system is estimated at an average of 300 mm/year. The region loses more water through evaporation than it receives in the wet season. Around 2500 mm of water evaporates from the surface annually, giving a water deficit of 2200 mm/year. The region's flat, shallow landscape, high evaporation rate, and the inadequacy of infrastructure have made the area vulnerable in terms of water security for both agricultural and potable purposes, resulting in droughts after the rainy season. With these findings, it is recommended to build water infrastructures within the region to improve the well-being and livelihood of rural communities.