FEATURE
FEATURE
Why DRC mines need collaboration for water stewardship
While there is no shortage of water in the Democratic Republic of Congo ( DRC ), mines have other water-related challenges to face – not least of which is their impact on ground water levels due to dewatering . SRK DRC country manager Susa Maleba and SRK Consulting partner and principal environmental scientist Wouter Jordaan explain why water stewardship is the right approach to deal with this increasingly sensitive issue .
Where are certain aspects of water management that are easier to address than others . Water quality , for instance , is generally a legislated matter and the law demands that certain indicators be regularly measured for compliance . A more complex area relates to the dewatering of mines , to lower the water table sufficiently for mining to continue .
In countries like the DRC , where the mining industry is growing rapidly and being spurred on by the rising demand for battery minerals , the scale of this issue is set to grow . Not only are there more mines opening within close proximity to each other , but they are also steadily mining wider and deeper to follow their respective orebodies .
This all means that in some instances greater volumes of water are being pumped to surface , with impacts both
SRK DRC country manager Susa Maleba
on the aquifers from which the water is abstracted , and on the surface environment into which the water must now flow . These impacts can affect a range of stakeholders in the respective catchment area , from nearby mines and industry to communities and farmers , as well as the parastatal water distribution company .
Serious consequences Among the results of dewatering is the potential lowering of the water table below the existing borehole depth of other users , which would force them to drill deeper or elsewhere to regain their groundwater access . Where resources are not available to invest in deepening boreholes , there could be serious consequences for community health , livelihood and even employment opportunities .
Discharge from mines is the other side of the coin , where large volumes of groundwater are being pumped into river systems . This often has the effect of raising water levels in rivers – presenting a significant risk for subsistence agricultural activity , which is often conducted as close to a water source as possible . There is also the possibility of fine material from mines accumulating
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