National Water Supply and Sanitation Council (NWASCO) director Kelvin Chitumbo says climate change is likely to severely impact the quality and quantity of water.

Chitumbo said this in a statement issued issued by his Public Relations and Communications Manager Mpunga Simukwai to highlight the rising impacts of climate change and climate variability that has affected the country and the region.

Chitumbo said NWASCO had developed a Climate Risks Screening (CRS) Guideline for the Water Supply and Sanitation Sub-Sector.

He said climate change would eventually lead to adverse impacts on the economic and social well-being of the communities if adaptive measures were not put in place.

He added that the CRS guideline would provide the framework on systematic steps which practitioners could take to identify climate hazards and extenuating measures as they designed and implemented water service projects.

“Though the guideline is primarily intended for use on new projects, it can also be used to climate proof already existing water services projects and infrastructure by guiding decision making for any modifications that may be required,” said Chitumbo.

Chitumbo said the guidelines were also intended to be used as decision making pointers during project planning and designs so that climate risks were identified and appropriate adaptation measures selected to reduce vulnerability.