scholarly journals The Pongola Floodplain, South Africa – Part 2: Holistic environmental flows assessment

Water SA ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 44 (4 October) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cate Brown ◽  
Alison Joubert ◽  
Toriso Tlou ◽  
Andrew Birkhead ◽  
Gary Marneweck ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Surface Water ◽  
Environmental Flows ◽  
Ecological Reserve ◽  
Management Area ◽  
Nature And Society ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Traditional Fishing

A holistic environmental flows (EFlows) assessment, undertaken as part of Ecological Reserve determination studies for selected surface water, groundwater, estuaries and wetlands in the Usuthu/Mhlatuze Water Management Area, South Africa, led to recommendations for modified releases from the Jozini Dam to support the socially, economically and ecologically important Pongola Floodplain situated downstream of the dam. The EFlows study analysed various permutations of flow releases from the dam based on the recommendations of pre-dam studies, and augmented by more recent observations, inputs from farmers and fishermen who live adjacent to the floodplain and discussion with the operators of Jozini Dam. The EFlows method used, DRIFT, allowed for the incorporation of detailed information, data and recommendations from a decades-old research project on the Pongola Floodplain that was undertaken prior to the construction of the Jozini Dam into a modern-day decision-making framework. This was used to assess the impact of a series of different flow releases on nature and society downstream of the dam. It was concluded that, within historic volumetric allocations to the floodplain, a release regime could be designed that considerably aided traditional fishing and grazing without necessarily prejudicing other uses, such as agriculture.

scholarly journals Adaptive and transformative learning in environmental water management: Implementing the Crocodile River’s Ecological Reserve in Kruger National Park, South Africa

Koedoe ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Craig A. McLoughlin ◽  
Eddie S. Riddell ◽  
Robin M. Petersen ◽  
Jacques Venter
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Social Learning ◽  
Transformative Learning ◽  
Adaptive Management ◽  
National Park ◽  
Environmental Flows ◽  
Environmental Water ◽  
Kruger National Park ◽  
Ecological Reserve

Freshwater biodiversity loss in the Anthropocene escalates the need for successful environmental water management to sustain human benefitting ecosystem services. Of the world’s river basins, one-third are now severely water depleted, rendering the quality and quantity of water to maintain or restore freshwater ecosystem integrity increasingly urgent. However, managing environmental water is intricate because of complexity and uncertainty in interacting social and biophysical system components, and trade-offs between costs and benefits of implementing environmental flows. Learning enabled adaptive management – embracing the uncertainty – is essential; however, practising adaptive management (worldwide) is challenging; single-, double- and triple-loop learning is required, along with social learning, to tackle complex problems. There is progressive realisation of environmental flows (Ecological Reserve) in the Crocodile River, South Africa, linked to the Kruger National Park, using Strategic Adaptive Management (SAM). In this research article, we reflected on adaptive (single- and double-loop) learning and transformative (triple-loop) learning capacity emergent in SAM between 2009 and 2019 whilst also considering social learning potentials. We found evidence of preconditions (e.g. transparency) for social learning within a burgeoning stakeholder ‘community-of-practice’, likely fostering capacities (e.g. information sharing) for sustained social learning. Adaptive and transformative learning is enabled by social learning, underpinned by ongoing nested feedbacks supporting assessment and reflection, which facilitates single-, double- and triple-loop learning. Champions exist and are vital for sustaining the adaptive management system. Executing adaptive and transformative learning aids in positive change across the range of ecological, social and economic outcomes that are essential for success in environmental water programmes, worldwide.Conservation implications: Crocodile River Ecological Reserve implementation, associated with Kruger National Park, provided an important national precedent (lessons) for protecting the ecological integrity of river systems – obligatory under the National Water Act (Act No 36 of 1998). We demonstrated the importance of ongoing stakeholder learning for successful management of the Ecological Reserve.

scholarly journals Assessment of Anthropogenic Impact of Surface Water Quality, South Africa

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 12
Author(s):  
Dipitseng Manamela ◽  
Omotayo Awofolu
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Water Quality ◽  
Surface Water ◽  
Anthropogenic Activities ◽  
Treatment Plant ◽  
Surface Water Quality ◽  
Total Coliform ◽  
Mean Values ◽  
Physico Chemical ◽  
The Impact

This article investigates the impact of anthropogenic activities on an important surface water from physico-chemical, chemical and microbial perspectives. The surface water, referred to as Blesbokspruit is in the West Rand District of South Africa. Potential impactors include wastewater treatment plant, mines, farmlands and informal settlements. Water samples were collected from nine purposively selected sampling points and analysed in 2014. The mean values of analysed variables across sampling sites and periods ranged from pH: 7.4-8.4; EC: 93.0 - 146.6 mS/m; TSS: 11.3 – 39.0 mg/L; TDS: 590.3 - 1020.3 mg/L; COD: 15.6- 34.8 mg/L. Those for anions varied from NO3-: 0.2- 2.1 (mg/L) N; PO43- : 0.4-0.9 mg/L and SO42-: 118.6 - 379.5 mg/L. The metallic variables ranged from As: 0.01-0.06 mg/L; Cd: 0.02-0.06 mg/L; Fe: 0.04-0.73 mg/L; Cu: 0.02 – 0.05 mg/L and Zn: 0.05 – 0.15 mg/L. The Faecal coliform varied from 15.9-16878.5 cfu/100 ml; Total coliform: 92.9-430294 cfu/100 ml and HPC from 4322.5-39776 cfu/1ml. Detection of toxic metals and pathogenic organisms above target safety limits indicate unsuitability of the water for domestic use with impact on the health of aquatic ecosystem. The study generally revealed the impact of anthropogenic activities on the surface water quality.

scholarly journals Attitudes, Rape and Law Reform in South Africa

2009 ◽  
Vol 73 (5) ◽  
pp. 414-429 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charnelle van der Bijl ◽  
Philip N. S. Rumney
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Social Attitudes ◽  
Law Reform ◽  
Judicial Decision Making ◽  
Rape Law ◽  
Justice Process ◽  
Criminal Justice Process ◽  
The Impact

In the last decade South Africa has undergone an extensive process of sexual offence law reform. This process has attempted, amongst other things, to address deficiencies in the criminal justice response to rape and has also recognised some of the limits to the impact of legal reform. These limits are partly defined by rape supportive attitudes and myths that appear to influence decision-making at all points in the criminal justice process. In South Africa, and many other jurisdictions, evidence suggests that police, prosecutorial and judicial decision-making is influenced, in part, by a range of social attitudes that misconstrue sexual violence, as well as serve to undermine the credibility of complainants. This article examines the impact of myths, social definitions of rape on rape law reform in South Africa and the points at which these reforms are likely to be undermined by social attitudes and what potentially might be done to address this problem.

Can diatom-based pollution indices be used for biomonitoring in South Africa? A case study of the Crocodile West and Marico water management area

Hydrobiologia ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 592 (1) ◽  
pp. 455-464 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Charles Taylor ◽  
Jean Prygiel ◽  
Andre Vosloo ◽  
Pieter A. de la Rey ◽  
Leon van Rensburg
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Pollution Indices ◽  
Management Area

scholarly journals Water for sustainable development in the Berg Water Management Area, South Africa

2018 ◽  
Vol 114 (3/4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan J. Cole ◽  
Richard M. Bailey ◽  
James D.S. JCullis ◽  
Mark G. New
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Water Losses ◽  
Freshwater Aquaculture ◽  
Management Area ◽  
Water Scarce

Water is fundamental to human well-being and economic growth. Measuring how water contributes to sustainable development is an important aspect of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6, ‘Water and sanitation for all’. This importance is especially significant for water-scarce developing countries such as South Africa. Appropriate indicators can support decision-making and highlight key issues on inequality, unemployment and sustainability. In this paper, additional indicators for SDG 6.4 on water-use efficiency are proposed that focus on how individuals and households benefit, both directly and indirectly, from the allocations and use of water resources. The Berg Water Management Area (WMA) in the southwest corner of South Africa is used as a case study to illustrate the results. Residential per capita water use and municipal water losses were determined for all towns in the area. Figures for jobs and income per unit of water use were calculated for the heavily water-dependent industries, namely, agriculture, agriprocessing, freshwater aquaculture, mining and steel processing. This approach to measuring the socio-economic benefits of water use are relevant for other countries seeking to measure the role that water plays in achieving inclusive sustainable development, and could be included in the final SDG 6 indicator suite.

scholarly journals Sustainability of water uses in managed hydrosystems: human- and climate-induced changes for the mid-21st century

2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (8) ◽  
pp. 3129-3147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Fabre ◽  
Denis Ruelland ◽  
Alain Dezetter ◽  
Benjamin Grouillet
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Management ◽  
Water Availability ◽  
Environmental Flows ◽  
Climate Projections ◽  
Climate Change Scenarios ◽  
Modeling Framework ◽  
Induced Changes ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Water Uses

Abstract. This paper assesses the sustainability of planned water uses in mesoscale river basins under multiple climate change scenarios, and contributes to determining the possible causes of unsustainability. We propose an assessment grounded in real-world water management issues, with water management scenarios built in collaboration with local water agencies. Furthermore, we present an analysis through indicators that relate to management goals and present the implications of climate uncertainty for our results, furthering the significance of our study for water management. A modeling framework integrating hydro-climatic and human dynamics and accounting for interactions between resource and demand was applied in two basins of different scales and with contrasting water uses: the Herault (2500 km2, France) and the Ebro (85 000 km2, Spain) basins. Natural streamflow was evaluated using a conceptual hydrological model. A demand-driven reservoir management model was designed to account for streamflow regulations from the main dams. Human water demand was estimated from time series of demographic, socioeconomic and climatic data. Environmental flows were accounted for by defining streamflow thresholds under which withdrawals were strictly limited. Finally indicators comparing water availability to demand at strategic resource and demand nodes were computed. This framework was applied under different combinations of climatic and water use scenarios for the mid-21st to differentiate the impacts of climate- and human-induced changes on streamflow and water balance. Results showed that objective monthly environmental flows would be guaranteed in current climate conditions in both basins, yet in several areas this could imply limiting human water uses more than once every 5 years. The impact of the tested climate projections on both water availability and demand could question the water allocations and environmental requirements currently planned for the coming decades. Water shortages for human use could become more frequent and intense, and the pressure on water resources and aquatic ecosystems could intensify. The causes of unsustainability vary across sub-basins and scenarios, and in most areas results are highly dependent on the climate change scenario.

scholarly journals Carbon Tax Implications On Corporate Social Investment In The South African Motor Vehicle Manufacturing Industry

2013 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 1605
Author(s):  
Suren Pillay ◽  
Pieter W. Buys
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
South African ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Motor Vehicle ◽  
Carbon Tax ◽  
Social Investment ◽  
Corporate Social ◽  
The Impact

Carbon excise tax was implemented on all passenger motor vehicles in South Africa as of 1 September 2010. Since its implementation, the impact of carbon tax on the corporate social investment (CSI) initiatives and expenditure of South African motor vehicle manufacturers has not been assessed. Given that the carbon tax price should ideally compensate for the damage caused by carbon emissions on the environment and people, the key knowledge gap this article aims to consider is whether the implementation of such a carbon tax is likely to affect the CSI decision-making process in respect of motor vehicle manufacturers in South Africa. The research methodology applied in this study is in the form of both a literature review and empirical research. A literature review was performed on the history, emergence and significance of CSI expenditure within the South African context. The empirical research includes an exploratory case study into the impact of the tax in the decision-making processes with regard to CSI expenditure, as well as the impact of carbon tax on CSI spending by motor vehicle manufacturers in South Africa. It was found that although the advent of carbon tax in the industry would place added pressure on the financial performance of the companies, it is unlikely that it would adversely affect the industrys commitment to the CSI initiatives.

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