Developing a Groundwater Strategy for the Limpopo River Basin

Groundwater is an essential livelihood mechanism across the riparian states of the Limpopo River Basin (LRB). The need for groundwater is especially pressing in the context of declining access to surface water resources, and the importance of groundwater will only increase as climate change impacts worsen. Despite its significance across the four countries, there are still major gaps within the region’s groundwater management knowledge base, which often leads to inefficient and ineffective resource utilisation. In 2018, the Limpopo Watercourse Commission (LIMCOM) established the LIMCOM Groundwater Committee (LGC), which identified the need for a groundwater strategy for the LRB.

OneWorld was contracted to develop a comprehensive Stakeholder Register and Groundwater Strategy for the LRB. The strategy covers several thematic areas:

• Capacity-building initiatives for the LGC and stakeholders;
• Knowledge generation (through research) and management for the LRB
• Groundwater data collection and management, including the development/integration of groundwater management information and decision support systems;
• And creating enabling policy, legal and institutional frameworks for national and transboundary groundwater management in the LRB.