Advanced Groundwater Management In Namibia: Introducing The New National Groundwater Database Growas Ii

The key towards modern groundwater management lies in a profound strategy from monitoring data collection over data processing and information management to clear reporting on the development of groundwater resources. Only thus planners are enabled to take informed decisions towards sustainable use and well-keeping of available groundwater. A core in this strategy is the digital database in which all relevant data and information is stored, handled and displayed. It is thus that the Namibian Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry (MAWF) decided to replace within the activities of the Namibian–German cooperation project “Groundwater for the north of Namibia”, the existing national groundwater database GROWAS with the completely new development of the GROWAS II  version.  Through  the  experience  of  the  project  partner  BGR  (Federal  Institute  for Geosciences and Natural Resources) the focus was put on the critical issue of data quality control. As the analysis of the old system indicated unclear data operation procedures as a major source of errors, improved user-friendliness was high on the agenda for the new database. Developed closely to  the  needs  of  Namibian  Water  Authorities,  GROWAS II  features  a  GIS-based  graphical  user interface (GUI) with a vast range of query functions, a modular system including time series tools, hydrochemistry, licenses for abstraction application and groundwater status reporting functions, among others. Quality control is secured through different measures like the “fosterage” option which allows the input of data into a temporary status with restricted access until released by senior experts, the quick and direct interaction with Google Earth to verify locations and the extensive use of look-up tables and descriptive keys in alignment with other regional geo-databases. Furthermore, data entries can be marked according to their estimated reliability with traffic light coding. These measures should ensure that only good quality data will be added in the future. Upcoming development steps are the practical tests of the single modules in day-to-day use, the integration into or exchange with other information systems and the improvement of older existing data as far as possible. Namibia will thus be better prepared for future groundwater challenges.