The clock is ticking and South Africa cannot afford to delay the implementation of more aggressive water policies.
“To avoid a state of national panic, similar to that which occurred during the energy crisis of 2014 to 2015, the government will have to act immediately
“As the forces of climate change, population growth, urbanisation and industrialisation collide in South Africa, it’s vital that policymakers take aggressive measures to restore balance in the water sector.”
This is from a new Water Research Commission report, A Delicate Balance: Water Scarcity in South Africa.
The authors, Zachary Donnenfeld, Courtney Crooks and Steve Heddon, from the Institute for Security Studies and the Frederick S Pardeen Centre for International Futures, write that it is possible to restore stability to the country's water system, but it will take “significant financial investment and political will".
“Although the 2014-2016 drought has catalysed a national conversation, and to some extent, brought water security into the policy debate in SA, the drought did not cause water scarcity. What the drought did was highlight existing vulnerabilities in SA’s water system, and properly frame the magnitude of the challenge of ensuring water security for the country.”
While SA is a water-scarce country, there are “extant, affordable technologies that government, business and private individuals could employ to help realign supply and demand while ensuring water security for future generations”.
The increase in water demand is being driven by a combination of population growth, urbanisation, rising incomes, irrigation expansion, non-renewable electricity generation and a growing manufacturing sector.
“Moreover, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change anticipates a decline in average precipitation levels in the western part of the country, and that the entire south-western region of the country will be at increased risk of severe drought throughout this century.
“While the January and February rains have offered a brief reprieve, the fact is that SA is still overexploiting its renewable water resources and without additional interventions, will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.”
The report details how more than 60% of rivers are being over-exploited and only one-third of the country’s main rivers are in good condition. One quarter of the country’s river ecosystems are in a critical state. “The consequences of overexploitation may not be evident overnight, but the ultimate losers are the exploited ecosystems and the organisms (including humans) dependent on them for survival and well being."
In the Western Cape, the most seriously affected area, more than 80% of rivers are being over-exploited in the Breede-Gouritz catchment and the Berg-Olifants catchment.
The problem is not limited to the Western Cape though. “Dam levels have been plummeting in the Eastern Cape as well. KwaZulu-Natal is also overexploiting about 50% of the rivers in its main catchment, where dam levels are at about 52%.”
When the ability of a river to effectively absorb potentially harmful human particulates is diminished, there are substantial consequences of human development including an increased risk of contracting a water-borne disease. “Contaminated water is a significant driver of diarrhoeal disease, which alone is responsible for [causing the death of] roughly 1 600... children per day, according to Unicef".
Certain areas are experiencing a higher degree of water stress than others “and if any province or municipality were to completely run out of water it would become a national emergency”.
Aggressive policies include implementing water conservation and demand-reduction measures.
“South Africa must use water more efficiently. This can be achieved through a combination of infrastructure repairs, the implementation of new building codes, incentives to install water-efficient appliances and a tiered pricing structure." Another recommendation is to increase the amount of waste water that is treated and reused.
“About 60% of SA’s waste water is untreated and a survey of 88 municipalities found more than two-thirds of the waste water treatment facilities examined did not meet minimum quality control standards.
"A failure to efficiently address waste water treatment and reuse could have devastating consequences for people, the environment and economy.”
Desalination is “prohibitively expensive” except in coastal metropolitan areas such as Cape Town, Durban and Nelson Mandela Bay.
“Desalination will not be able to address water scarcity in SA’s inland areas and will have a limited impact on the agricultural sector and so will likely only play a small part in SA’s water future.”
While SA is almost entirely dependent on coal for its electricity needs, coal-fired power plants gobble large amounts of water for cooling and threaten to further harm the country’s water ecosystems.
“Increasing the amount of energy generated from renewable sources will reduce industrial water demand, lower carbon emissions and minimise water contamination.”
The authors write that finding the right balance in promoting general conservation across income groups will be difficult.
“That said, it’s hard to think of a more important or worthy policy goal.”