After sharing information obtained from the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform (MAWLR) on borehole registrations in last week’s Newsletter, we received many questions on this topic.
Should you have questions, please send an e-mail listing your questions to [email protected].
Telephonic enquiries cannot be attended to, due to the volume of enquiries reaching our office. We also try to answer all questions received, for the benefit of all members.
The ministry, as custodian of all water resources, is responsible for the sustainable management thereof. According to the Namibian Constitution (Article 100) all water resources belong to the state.
The purpose of data collection is to improve on ministerial records and one of the outcomes is regular updates on the hydrogeological map of Namibia. Another outcome is to establish the (current) groundwater potential of various regions across the country. The more data available, the higher the quality of the groundwater maps. These maps are available to farmers to make use of and can be obtained from the geohydrology division of the ministry.
The ministry envisages to obtain a complete and updated database – measuring irrigation AND ALL other water usage.
Many farmers have asked whether levies will be imposed for water usage. The current water pricing policy to be administered by the Water Regulators does not have a provision for water levies.
The NAU itself is not prescriptive but has a responsibility to keep its members updated on applicable legislation. Individuals have a choice of adhering to this legislation. The definition of ‘domestic use’ is unclear in the current legislation, however, boreholes need to be registered. An abstraction permit is not required for ‘domestic’ use.
After expiry of the 18-month period, legislation makes provision for penalties for unregistered boreholes. (The Act was promulgated on 29 August 2023 meaning the 18-month period will lapse at the end of February 2025).
What is the use of registering dry boreholes? Areas with abundant dry boreholes in general have a lower groundwater potential compared to areas with fewer dry boreholes and this data will be reflected on maps for planning purposes (private and government).
WA04: Application for borehole license – all boreholes need to be registered
WA03: Groundwater Abstraction License Application – to be completed for commercial, industrial and irrigation purposes.
Borehole Data Collection Sheet: If you do not have the complete set of information on a borehole, please indicate 'unknown' on the applicable sections of the Excel sheet.
Data Request Form: Please complete when requesting information from the ministry, including borehole information.
N$100 is payable per application for a license. One application can be used to register many boreholes on the property.
Registration of boreholes should be done by the end of February 2025 to avoid being penalized as per the Water Act. All applications to register boreholes must be submitted before this deadline.
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