Water security refers to consistent access to acceptable volumes and conditions of water for health, livelihoods, and production purposes, which are crucial for sustaining life, fostering economic growth, and safeguarding environmental integrity.
Water security involves more than just availability; it entails sustainable water resource management to protect the entire life (for all living creatures and plants) and their environments. Water is essential for human and animal drinking, sanitation, agriculture, energy production, and many other industrial processes.
Water security has become a key concern in the 21st century, Lesotho not being an exception. There are factors leading to overexploitation and degradation of water resources. These include rising populations, evolving economies, changing climates, political and institutional characteristics of a country. Furthermore, contributing to this challenge is lack of integrated and sustainable management of water resources, including conservation of aquatic ecosystems, protection of water sources, and proper water use planning.
The Government of Lesotho, through the Lesotho Water and Sanitation Policy 2007 and Water and Sanitation Strategy 2014, commits to providing Basotho 30 litres of water per capita per day to improve water security. In the same manner, the Water and Sewerage Company’s (WASCO) Water Balance Report for the First Quarter of the Financial Year 2024/25 measured consumption per person at 81.1 litres per day while the average water supply time was 22 hours per day.
As a consequence of the above-mentioned risks, the following action initiatives are found to strengthen infrastructure and water resource management systems:
• Promoting sustainable water resource management through policies and integrated
practices considering water availability, quality, equitable use, and aquatic ecosystem
conservation.
• Strengthening water governance by developing robust legal frameworks and policies for water management at local and national levels, promoting participation of all stakeholders and ensuring equity and transparency in water distribution and use.
• Increasing investment in research and development of innovative technologies for water purification, water quality monitoring and efficient resource management.
• Improving drinking water and sanitation infrastructure by investing in the construction of drinking water supply and basic sanitation systems to ensure adequate access to clean and safe water for the population.
• Promoting international collaboration through cooperation between countries to address trans-boundary water-related challenges, such as shared watershed management and adaptation to climate change.
• Efforts to attain water security form part of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6, on target 6.2, which commits to achieving access to adequate
and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and ending open defecation, particularly for vulnerable populations by 2030. The Lesotho Electricity and Water Authority (LEWA) also has a role and contribution to realising SDG 6 as the regulator of urban water and sewerage services subsector, amongst others.
The Authority, as indicated under Section 21 of the LEA Act 2002, as amended, promotes the expansion of water and sewerage services in Lesotho, where it is economical and cost effective.
It is essential to mention that WASCO’s water supply sources are Metolong dam, rivers, boreholes, and springs. These water sources are insufficient for the currently connected customers, such that some consumers spend days without a reliable water supply. WASCO is Lesotho’s sole supplier of urban water and sewerage services, while the Department of Rural Water Supply (DRWS) covers rural areas.
Despite WASCO and DRWS, other key players that ensure water security in Lesotho include ReNoka, Lesotho Lowlands Water Development Project Phases I, II and III. Lastly, it is essential to realise that water security cannot be attained without water availability.
