scholarly journals Stormwater harvesting: Improving water security in South Africa’s urban areas

2017 ◽  
Vol Volume 113 (Number 1/2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lloyd Fisher-Jeffes ◽  
Kirsty Carden ◽  
Neil P. Armitage ◽  
Kevin Winter ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Water Security ◽  
Environmental Benefits ◽  
Aquifer Recharge ◽  
Real Time Control ◽  
Water Supplies ◽  
Water Insecurity ◽  
Stormwater Harvesting

Abstract The drought experienced in South Africa in 2016 – one of the worst in decades – has left many urbanised parts of the country with limited access to water, and food production has been affected. If a future water crisis is to be averted, the country needs to conserve current water supplies, reduce its reliance on conventional surface water schemes, and seek alternative sources of water supply. Within urban areas, municipalities must find ways to adapt to, and mitigate the threats from, water insecurity resulting from, inter alia, droughts, climate change and increasing water demand driven by population growth and rising standards of living. Stormwater harvesting (SWH) is one possible alternative water resource that could supplement traditional urban water supplies, as well as simultaneously offer a range of social and environmental benefits. We set out three position statements relating to how SWH can: improve water security and increase resilience to climate change in urban areas; prevent frequent flooding; and provide additional benefits to society. We also identify priority research areas for the future in order to target and support the appropriate uptake of SWH in South Africa, including testing the viability of SWH through the use of real-time control and managed aquifer recharge.

scholarly journals Socio-political processes must be emphasised alongside climate change and urbanisation as key drivers of urban water insecurity

Water Policy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Fallon Grasham ◽  
George Neville
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Water Security ◽  
Central Component ◽  
Urban Water ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Water Insecurity ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
Key Drivers

Abstract Urban water security is of critical global and local importance. Across many parts of low- and middle-income countries, urban water security either remains elusive or is becoming stressed. Rapid urbanisation and climate change are two key drivers of resource insecurity and at the forefront of urban water discourse. However, there are manifold and complex socio-political processes functioning alongside these megatrends that are often underemphasised. Drawing on three urban case studies in Ethiopia, we highlight these structural issues and the need for their continued consideration to fully understand and address urban water insecurity. Household water-use surveys, semi-structured interviews and participatory exercises with community residents, stakeholders and informal water vendors were used as part of a mixed-method approach in three urban areas. We found that government-managed urban water supplies were intermittent and unsafe, resulting in economic, health and time-use burdens for households, and that the socio-political dimensions reproducing urban water insecurity have historical roots. We argue that the uncertainty of climate change and unprecedented urbanisation do not offer sufficient explanation for why urban water insecurity persists. Moreover, we call for caution in only employing these narratives, to avoid obscuring deeply rooted challenges within socio-political systems. We call for socio-political processes to continue to be a central component of future interventions that seek to improve urban water insecurity.

scholarly journals Climate change and water insecurity in rural uMkhanyakude District Municipality: an assessment of coping strategies for rural South Africa

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hosea Olayiwola Patrick
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Coping Strategies ◽  
Policy Issue ◽  
Water Security ◽  
Water Insecurity ◽  
Rural South ◽  
Kwazulu Natal ◽  
Rural South Africa

Abstract The vulnerability of Africa to climate change extremes and eventual impacts is extremely high due to the weak coping strategies prevalent in the continent. The peculiarity of South Africa to these vulnerabilities, especially for water security, is an issue of socioeconomic and policy issue. Based on the premises of human security, the study assesses the coping strategies of rural communities in South Africa, focusing on uMkhanyakude District Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal province, given the effects of climate change-induced water scarcity on the area. The study employed a multilayered descriptive mixed method triangulation approach. It focused specifically on the connection between water and climate change and the adopted everyday vertical and horizontal coping strategies. The findings revealed a strong correlation between the behavioral and traditional coping strategies in the study area, water depletion/scarcity, and climate change. It also showed that government institutions are reactionary in their response to climate change-induced impacts. The study, therefore, recommends a pre-resilience mechanism that makes institutions and individuals proactive rather than adopting a reactionary post-resilience strategy in response to the effects of climate change-induced water security.

scholarly journals Impact of Extreme Drought Climate on Water Security in North Borneo: Case Study of Sabah

Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 1135
Author(s):  
Carolyn Payus ◽  
Lim Ann Huey ◽  
Farrah Adnan ◽  
Andi Besse Rimba ◽  
Geetha Mohan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Resource ◽  
Supply And Demand ◽  
Water Security ◽  
Water Levels ◽  
Extreme Drought ◽  
Northeast Monsoon ◽  
Water Insecurity ◽  
The North ◽  
North Borneo

For countries in Southeast Asia that mainly rely on surface water as their water resource, changes in weather patterns and hydrological systems due to climate change will cause severely decreased water resource availability. Warm weather triggers more water use and exacerbates the extraction of water resources, which will change the operation patterns of water usage and increase demand, resulting in water scarcity. The occurrence of prolonged drought upsets the balance between water supply and demand, significantly increasing the vulnerability of regions to damaging impacts. The objectives of this study are to identify trends and determine the impacts of extreme drought events on water levels for the major important water dams in the northern part of Borneo, and to assess the risk of water insecurity for the dams. In this context, remote sensing images are used to determine the degree of risk of water insecurity in the regions. Statistical methods are used in the analysis of daily water levels and rainfall data. The findings show that water levels in dams on the North and Northeast Coasts of Borneo are greatly affected by the extreme drought climate caused by the Northeast Monsoon, with mild to the high risk recorded in terms of water insecurity, with only two of the water dams being water-secure. This study shows how climate change has affected water availability throughout the regions.

scholarly journals Households’ Adaptation to Climate Change Hazards in Semi-Arid Region of Mopani, South Africa

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Musa Yusuf Jimoh ◽  
Peter Bikam ◽  
Hector Chikoore ◽  
James Chakwizira ◽  
Emaculate Ingwani
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Climate Change Adaptation ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Arid Region ◽  
Adaptive Systems ◽  
Adaptation To Climate Change ◽  
Temperature And Precipitation ◽  
Semi Arid Region ◽  
Semi Arid

New climate change realities are no longer a doubtful phenomenon, but realities to adapt and live with. Its cogent impacts and implications’ dispositions pervade all sectors and geographic scales, making no sector or geographic area immune, nor any human endeavor spared from the associated adversities. The consequences of this emerging climate order are already manifesting, with narratives written beyond the alterations in temperature and precipitation, particularly in urban areas of semi-arid region of South Africa. The need to better understand and respond to the new climate change realities is particularly acute in this region. Thus, this chapter highlights the concept of adaptation as a fundamental component of managing climate change vulnerability, through identifying and providing insight in respect of some available climate change adaptation models and how these models fit within the premises and programmes of sustainable adaptation in semi-arid region with gaps identification. The efforts of governments within the global context are examined with households’ individual adaptation strategies to climate change hazards in Mopani District. The factors hindering the success of sustainable urban climate change adaptation strategic framework and urban households’ adaptive systems are also subjects of debate and constitute the concluding remarks to the chapter.

scholarly journals Analysis of public policies and programmes towards water security in post-apartheid South Africa

Water Policy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Kwame Adom ◽  
Mulala Danny Simatele
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Management ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Private Equity ◽  
Water Governance ◽  
Water Security ◽  
Second Phase ◽  
Governance Capacity ◽  
Water Provision ◽  
The Government

Abstract Many countries in the world, including South Africa, are water-stressed with increasing pressure on their water resources due to population growth, climate change, and inadequate funding. Post independence in 1994, many policies and programmes were introduced by the government with the aim of promoting water management. While these policies and strategies achieved much in terms of water provision to communities and households, they failed to establish a water-conscious country with sufficient knowledge and expertise in water management. In addition, these policies and programmes are outdated, compartmentalised, complex, and lack robust water governance with resilient stakeholder partnerships that advance the more explicit second phase of the NDP to achieve water security under the threat of climate change. Using data collection tools inspired by the traditional method of participatory research, this paper analyses the structural and systematic factors hindering the implementation of comprehensive policies to achieve water security in South Africa. There is, therefore, an urgent need for South Africa to establish an independent water regulator to ensure coordination between different government departments, including the National Treasury, to strengthen weak governance capacity and to make it independent to attract private equity into the sector and to recover fiscal deficits in the water sector.

scholarly journals Water Rights in a Time of Fragility: An Exploration of Contestation and Discourse around Cape Town’s “Day Zero” Water Crisis

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (22) ◽  
pp. 3247
Author(s):  
Jackie Dugard
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Water Rights ◽  
Water Security ◽  
Interesting Case ◽  
Water Insecurity ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
The World ◽  
Legal Frameworks ◽  
Water Scarce ◽  
The Right

South Africa is an interesting case study on the right to water. It is an upper-middle income country with a history and current reality of extreme racialised inequality, including the water services sphere. It is water scarce, and during 2018, Cape Town was expected to be the first major metropolitan city in the world to run out of water. South Africa has one of the most progressive constitutions in the world, which incorporated socio-economic rights including the right to water as explicitly justiciable long before the international right to water was recognised. However, despite clear water-security and water-equity fault lines on the one hand and conducive legal frameworks on the other hand, there has been relatively little water rights contestation in post-apartheid South Africa. It is this paradox and, in particular, how it played out in the clear case of water insecurity in Cape Town’s “Day Zero” crisis that are the subjects of examination in this article. Aiming to make an original contribution to the scholarship on the “Day Zero” crisis by exploring it from the perspective of interlocutors and those affected by it, this article also hopes to contribute towards a better understanding of the nature and application of water rights more broadly.

scholarly journals Climate change adaptation and local government: Institutional complexities surrounding Cape Town’s Day Zero

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Godwell Nhamo ◽  
Adelaide O. Agyepong
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Climate Change Adaptation ◽  
Network Theory ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Climate Adaptation ◽  
Cape Town ◽  
Water Security ◽  
Landmark Learning

The challenges associated with climate change in local governments are growing daily. One such challenge is water security, an aspect that draws us to the subject matter of climate change adaptation. This article discusses findings about institutional complexities surrounding Day Zero, a concept associated with water taps running dry because of drought conditions as aggravated by climate change in the city of Cape Town, South Africa. The thrust on institutional complexities is deliberate, as this affects how crisis situations like Day Zero were handled. The data were generated mainly from the actor–actant–network theory, events study as well as document and discourse analysis methods. The actor–actant–network theory is used widely to trace how actors (humans) and actants (non-human phenomena) interact in space and time through their networks, following narratives like Day Zero, and act on climate-related matters. The analysis applied elements of grounded theory, resulting in categories and themes emerging for discussion. The article found that narratives surrounding Day Zero were embedded in both political and administrative dilemmas and red tape. Despite these challenges, the article concludes that Day Zero remains one of the landmark learning points for climate change adaptation and water security in Cape Town, South Africa, and in other cities across the world. The article recommends that Day Zero experiences continue to be embraced positively and documented further to enhance local government climate adaptation for water security currently and into the future as well.

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