Zambia
THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT
OF LUSAKA – A POSSIBLE CAUSE FOR CURRENT &
FUTURE GROUNDWATER MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS
D.C.W. Nkhuwa
1Statement
Key Conclusions & Recommendations
• Lusaka’s historical growth has been greatly influenced by the underlying geology –Marbles ad Schists– and the associated landforms.
• One of the conditions to proceed with the construction of the new capital at the current site entailed a restriction on the population to inhabit the new capital.
• However, since independence in 1964, the city of Lusaka has experienced a very rapid growth of population which has, in turn, created problems of meeting the basic social needs.
• The immediate problem of housing has been solved by relegating most of this population to high-density settlements, where excreta disposal is through pit latrines, while shallow wells have provide the most common sources of water supply.
Lusaka was:
• Inaugurated new capital city of NR on Friday, 31 May 1935.
• Selected after careful consideration of a number of alternative locations (Chilanga, Broken Hill, and some Copperbelt towns).
• Chosen partly to (i) avoid domination by mining cos., & (ii) because of its central location, intersection of main route network.
• Laid out in what would commonly have been called the green field site near a rail-side settlement.
The figure opposite shows the initial layout of the city, in 1928
Aquifer / Country Setting & Characteristics
Figs-Setting
Evolution of the city and loss of a vision
Liquid waste disposal
Initial layout of the city
To maintain Lusaka as a garden city, design Plan of 1950 detailed Lusaka to accommodate a total population of 125,000 within 25 years: 100,000 Africans, and 25,000 Europeans.
However:
Population growth was responsible for the evolution of the city and loss of a vision, as is illustrated by the figure opposite.
Fig/Tbl-USE
Excreta Disposal
The 55% serviced by pit latrines - live in high-density residential townships, in areas, where the water table is very close to the surface.
Fig/Tbl Key2
Gaps & Innovations Lessons Learned Planned Implementing Actions
The figure shows the distribution of excreta disposal (pit latrines) and shallow wells in John Laing and Misisi Compounds.
A number of families that are unable to afford their own latrine do share facilities and more than 90% of the population have no access
to satisfactory sanitation facilities
Fig/Tbl Key2
The most important water quality problem in the areas of John Laing and Misisi is that of faecal pollution together with the associated disease-causing organisms. This is particularly serious during the rainy season, when faecal contamination is flushedinto the groundwater system and heightens with increasing levels of saturation, thereby making the aquifer very vulnerable to pollution.
Public health problems
Lusaka in 2002 Consequently, the city has had difficulties
to:
• Cope with a high rate of population increase.
• Formulate an adequate and elaborate strategy for water supply & management of liquid and solid wastes.
Fig-Schema/Tbl-Governance
1 Geology Department, School of Mines, University of Zambia Concerning the unplanned development of Lusaka, informal and unplanned settlements have flourished mostly over the aquifer recharge area. However since waste disposal practices have generally been on and in the karstified marbles, an environmentally very fragile terrain, these practices pose serious risks to the potability of water to support socio-economic activities of the city’s residents.
Consequently, the city’s residents have now understood that they are faced with increasing difficulties in meeting overall developmental goals because they cannot ensure a protected natural environment in which people live a healthy and productive life.
1. An important element in the assessment of groundwater quality, protection and management in these areas involved the identification of water points and potential pollution sources: This involved mapping of excreta disposal facilities and water points using a Garmin E-Trex hand-held GPS and the results of the mapping campaign were imported into an ArcView GIS programme.
2. Concerning water quality, three sampling campaigns were planned for the project and this arrangement was meant to compare the variability of pollutants with varying levels of saturation in the aquifer. The two subsequent sampling campaigns targeted those points that proved qualitatively problematic during the first sampling campaign.
Liquid waster disposal Excreta Disposal Public health problems
The current spread of human activities, such as the uncontrolled settlement patterns & Inadequate Methods of waste Disposal point to an ignored vision for the city’s growth.
These activities raise serious risks of groundwater contamination which may have far-reaching public health implications for the current and future residents.
Lusaka in 1965
Exploitation of Groundwater:
ÎUnregulated drilling of boreholes and excessive abstraction of groundwater from the aquifer.
ÎConsequently, the cost of pumping may increase to such levels that the poor may not readily afford water charges.
Waterborne
25% Pit latrines
55%
Septic tanks 20%
John Laing Misisi
Quarry
A re-examination of the original development plan - garden-city concept-for the city will assist in curbing these endemic outbreaks, thereby reducing on costs for health care services and the loss of productive time due to illnesses that would otherwise have been avoided.
•Growing demands for domestic water
•Current trends of informal high- density settlements
•Sprawls of unplanned low-density residential areas
Innovations Gaps
Annual cholera figures for Misisi and John Laing (1996 –
2004)
4,734 250
2003/ 96 2004
2 -
- 2002
887 30
46 2001
0 0
0 2000
6,485 -
- 1999
0 0
0 1998
2,492 26
140 1997
2,469 28
109 1996
JOHN LAING MISISI
TOTAL CASES IN THE CITY OF
LUSAKA CASES OF CHOLERA
YEAR 196000
536000 769000
1200000
0 200000 400000 600000 800000 1000000 1200000
1964 1980 1990 2000
DISCLAIMER: Poster draft prepared by IWRM.org on behalf of the author(s). Any inconsistencies between author(s) input materials and the poster is unintentional.
University of Zambia
are all promoting activities that pose great threats to the potability of groundwater resources in the Lusaka aquifer.
The consequences of consuming such water have been responsible for the recurrence of outbreaks of waterborne diseases.
