While there is no shortage of water in the DRC, mining operations in the region have other water-related challenges to face, one of them being their impact on
groundwater levels due to dewatering. Ultimately water stewardship is the most appropriate solution to deal with this increasingly sensitive issue.
There 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 challenge, however, is the dewatering of mines to lower the water table and ensure that mining continues.
In countries like the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) where the mining industry is expanding rapidly, 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 close to each other, but they are also steadily mining wider and deeper to follow the ore bodies.
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