The Cuvelai Basin, it’s water and it’s people in Angola and Namibia, written by John Mendelsohn and Beat Weber, was published in 2011 by Development Workshop (in Portuguese and English), with special recognition to BP Angola and Google Earth. The Cuvelai Basin is perhaps unique in the world as a drainage system that consists of hundreds of channels that join and separate thousands of times. This is an inland drainage with no outlet to the sea. Compared to surrounding areas and much of southern Africa, the Cuvelai is home to a very large number of people, largely because of the presence of shallow groundwater and relatively fertile soils in many areas.
It is hoped that the information provided here will allow public servants in Angola and Namibia to understand the nature and potential consequences of flooding in new ways. Likewise, members of civil society organisations, and of disaster and development agencies should have more information on which to base their planning and humanitarian work.
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