DAR ES SALAAM, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- A Tanzanian official on Wednesday directed all local government authorities in the country to take an inventory of all water sources for protection.
"The inventory of water sources will help the government to protect them from degradation and improve those that have been affected by human activities," January Makamba, Tanzania's Minister of State in the Vice-President's Office responsible for Environment, told the National Assembly in the political capital Dodoma.
He made the remarks as the latest report by the World Bank revealed that water scarcity facing Tanzania could derail the east African nation's growth and poverty reduction efforts.
"Tanzania needs to urgently improve the management of its water," said the report launched on Monday in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam.
In its report, the World Bank said against the rapidly expanding economy and population in Tanzania, renewable per capita freshwater resources dropped over the past 25 years from more than 3,000 cubic meters per person to around 1,600 today.
"The decline, which is driven by increasing demand for a finite resource, will be likely to continue and reach around 1,400 cubic meters per person by 2025, well below the 1,700-cubic meter per person threshold that defines water stressed countries," said the report.
