Maps help manage Zambian water resources

Zambian water authorities are using information from satellite images to improve management of water resources in the country.

The project, Integrated Water Resource Management for Zambia (IWAREMA), is part of the European Space Agency's (ESA) TIGER initiative which aims to help Africa overcome water-related problems and use satellite data to close the information gap on water availability.

Carried out by Geographic Information Management, a Belgian company, in partnership with the University of Zambia and the Zambian water authorities, the project generates a variety of environmental maps that provide local policy-makers with information to make effective decisions on water-resource management.

The maps show where urban areas are expanding and where forest and agricultural areas are being lost. They enable the risk of erosion to be calculated, as well as changes in water supplies and the percentage of surface water - an indictor for potential floods.

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