stanley liphadzi sustainability of shared freshwater resources in the south africa dialogue on water...
TRANSCRIPT
Stanley Liphadzi
Sustainability of shared freshwater resources in the South Africa
Dialogue on Water Governance 2015 , Fortaleza, Brazil, November 2015
Water in South Africa and SADC
• Water is a scarce resource.
• Mean annual precipitation is about 500 mm
• The Eastern and South parts of the country receive more rainfall.
• Water quality worsen our H2O challenges.
A drought prone region
Observed and simulated datasets were used
Other Challenges• Like many developing nations, SA has to strike a
balance between water resource use and protection.
• In pursuit of its development agenda, the country has encountered several water challenges.
• The most concern of them all is water (Quality, .... which cannot be separated from Quantity in South Africa)
• What use to bring certain kind of relief as solution…… are now of little use!
Water Resources protection related policies
National DepartmentsW&S
EA Land
Agric M&E LG
H2O Quality & Quantity 4 2 0 0 1 1
Ecosystems & Biodiversity 4 3 0 0 0 0
Land Care 3 1 1 1 0 2
Env. Pollution 1 2 0 0 3 1
How much is enough – policies?
• The departs responsible with water and environment developed several policies aimed at challenges relating to water and the env.
• The main ones are National Water Act (NWA), National Environmental Management Act (NEMA), National Water Service Act.
• How many more should we have? How many amendments do we need?
• We always say, everybody “lives downstream”, -Water management should be focused on the whole catchment/basin.
• We look at policies for guidance to abate water and env. problems. …….. is it where the solutions are?
• We always say, everybody “lives downstream”, -Water management should be focused on the whole catchment/basin.
• We look at policies for guidance to abate water and env. problems. …….. is it where the solutions are?
We have unequal society (in socio-economic terms), which compels decision makers to be pro- poor and the voiceless.
Olifants WMA as a case study area
Olifants
The Olifants Water Management Area• The Olifants WMA has a surface area of
approximately 54 550 km2. • Comprised of secondary catchments with
significant variations in climate, water availability, level and nature of economic development, and population density.
Land Cover/ Use
• The major land uses are, agriculture, afforestation, livestock and game farming, and mining.
• The eastern portion of the catchment is under conservation (KNP).
Conditions of Water Resources
Mostly:•Reduced Flows / over-abstraction (quantity)•Pollution (quality)
Water requirements in the Olifants WMA
Quantity & Reconciliation
This overall water resources situation shows that the catchment is in deficit of 192 M m3/a
Availability/ Use
Upper Olifants
Middle Olifants Steelpoort
Lower Olifants Total
Total local yield 238 210 61 100 609Transfers in 171 92 0 1 264Grand Total Water Availability 409 302 61 101 873Use Irrigation 44 336 69 108 557Urban 62 15 3 7 87Rural 6 28 6 5 45Mining and industrial 20 13 17 43 93Power Generation 181 0 0 0 181Afforestation 1 0 1 1 3Total requirements 314 392 96 164 966Transfers out 96 3 0 0 8Grand Total Required 410 395 96 164 974
Balance -1 -93 -35 -63 -192
Environmental Flow Requirements
The Reserve and Water Use licensing
Water quality is a neglected part of the Reserve
• The declining water quality in the Olifants WMA is related to:– Acid-mine drainage, – Increased mining activity in the upper
catchment,– Poor waste-water and sewerage treatment
plants.
• People, industries, and the ecosystems are negatively impacted by poor water quality
TDS conc
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
2 4 5 14 15 18 19 21 23 26 27
Site Number
To
tal D
isso
lved
Sal
ts (
mg
/litr
e)
R 6R 2 R 4 R 8
Max
95%75%
50%
25%
5%
Min
TDS concentrations above 1000 mg/litre indicate water exceeds CEV for aquatic ecosystems and domestic uses
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
2 4 5 14 15 18 19 21 23 26 27
Site Number
To
tal D
isso
lved
Sal
ts (
mg
/litr
e)
R 6R 2 R 4 R 8
Max
95%75%
50%
25%
5%
Min
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
2 4 5 14 15 18 19 21 23 26 27
Site Number
To
tal D
isso
lved
Sal
ts (
mg
/litr
e)
R 6R 2 R 4 R 8
Max
95%75%
50%
25%
5%
Min
Max
95%75%
50%
25%
5%
Min
TDS concentrations above 1000 mg/litre indicate water exceeds CEV for aquatic ecosystems and domestic uses
TDS concentrations above 1000 mg/litre indicate water exceeds CEV for aquatic ecosystems and domestic uses
Sulphate conc.
CEV = Chronic Effective Value
N:P ratio
0
100
200
300
400
2 4 5 14 15 18 19 21 23 26 27
843 1670 427
Site Number
Ino
rgan
ic N
: P
Rat
io
513
Max
95%75%
50%
25%
5%
Min
R 2 R 4 R 6 R 8
1287211
An Inorganic N:P Ratio lower than 10 (plus elevated PO4-P concentrations) indicates probable eutrophicconditions with dominance by cyanobacteria
0
100
200
300
400
2 4 5 14 15 18 19 21 23 26 27
843 1670 427
Site Number
Ino
rgan
ic N
: P
Rat
io
513
Max
95%75%
50%
25%
5%
Min
Max
95%75%
50%
25%
5%
Min
R 2 R 4 R 6 R 8
1287211
An Inorganic N:P Ratio lower than 10 (plus elevated PO4-P concentrations) indicates probable eutrophicconditions with dominance by cyanobacteria
An Inorganic N:P Ratio lower than 10 (plus elevated PO4-P concentrations) indicates probable eutrophicconditions with dominance by cyanobacteria
SO4:Cl ratio
0
5
10
15
20
25
1 3 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 16 17 20 22 24 25 R 9 R 10
Su
lph
ate
: C
hlo
rid
e R
atio
Site Number
Max
95%75%
50%
25%
5%
Min
381494463 1176
SO4 : Cl ratio values above 5.0 indicate definite mining and / or industrial effluent influences water quality
0
5
10
15
20
25
1 3 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 16 17 20 22 24 25 R 9 R 10
Su
lph
ate
: C
hlo
rid
e R
atio
Site Number
Max
95%75%
50%
25%
5%
Min
Max
95%75%
50%
25%
5%
Min
381494463 1176
SO4 : Cl ratio values above 5.0 indicate definite mining and / or industrial effluent influences water quality
SO4 : Cl ratio values above 5.0 indicate definite mining and / or industrial effluent influences water quality
Mining & power generation
…..is the support sufficient!
ARE POLICY INSTRUMENT (STILL) APPROPRIATE?•Relevancy•Reliability•Backed by new Scientific evidence
IMPLEMENTATION PLAN?•HR?
– Monitoring and Evaluation
– Compliance
•Transforming structures•Legal system•Political will
Key Success Areas
Strengthen Implementation• Improve competency• Have sufficient human
capacity• Have required tools for the
job• Strengthen knowledge
uptake capacity.• Review and improve all
your instruments (legal, technical, governance, etc.)
Improve understanding• Innovative research• Contextualization and• Operationalization of
knowledge.• Strengthen basin/catchment
based management effort;• Improve monitoring and
reporting systems• Enforce compliance all the
time
• Innovative research• Contextualization and• Operationalization of
knowledge.• Strengthen basin/catchment
based management effort;• Improve monitoring and
reporting systems• Enforce compliance all the
time
The rainfall datasets are needed for planning and proper management of water resources
• We used to have >2000 stations.
• Currently, we have less than 700 stations.
• We need to revamp our monitoring networks
Wor
king
wea
ther
st
ation
s
Years
700Stations700Stations
Types of Water Use (revised) – Linked to pricing Strat
Ecological Infrastructure as the only hope for Low & Middle-Income Economies
Years
Valu
e
Ecological
Built
Governance is key in achieving Sustainable Growth and Dev.
Conclusions• We need to stop to approach natural resources
management from a single-domain perspective. • Poorly implemented Policies and Strategies
(although attractive) are as good as not having them.
• Investment in R&D and capacity building is insufficient.
• Partnership with the regional and global community is a necessity.
Thank you