Integrated Water Resource Management in South Africa

 The demand for freshwater provision is evident across multiple African countries, with one of my earlier blog posts touching on the Virtual Water Trade as one way Kenya attempts to stabilise its needs. This week, I shall be looking at the presence of Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) strategies in South Africa, exploring how the nation works to provide water and food security.

According to UNESCO, IWRM is a holistic approach to water management, seeking to integrate the management of the physical environment within broader socio-economic and political frameworks. Since the 1992 World Summit on Sustainable Development, IWRM has been praised to effectively manage river basins, becoming sensitive to local ideologies and political understandings. The UN suggests that in the case of an environment which has a shortage of freshwater, specialised IWRM systems should be developed. Specifically, these should focus on drought preparedness and the need to manage food scarcity through water re-use in agriculture. This is very much the case for South Africa, with a continually growing and urbanising population, food security is vital.

Historically, South Africa met demands for water consumption, with communities in the higher eastern areas depending on rain-fed agriculture and hunter-gatherer communities in the drier western province adapting to the variable temporal and geographic patterns of rainfall to sustain their crops and animals. However, in the early 20^th century modern agricultural practices accelerated in popularity, with these monoculture methods more intensive and demanding vast amounts of water. 

Initially, the No. 54 Water Act of 1956, prioritised reducing pollution of freshwater resources to maintain their use in farming and for domestic purposes. However, this emphasised the role of the state and institutional players, serving as an aid to the catalyst of industrial expansion which centred on capturing and storing water safely through industrial developments. This included the instalments of boreholes (at the time this would have taken around 9 months) to access groundwater storage. This meant that although IWRM tactics were used, the main focus was on infrastructural developments.

Image of the industrial revolution in South Africa, where large infrastructural changes began, including infrastructural water management techniques

After the apartheid was abolished and water demand increased, social and economic issues became increasingly complex in the mid-1990s. The global paradigm for water resource management was shifting from supply side engineering solutions to demand side management, with South Africa recognising that engineering solutions which aimed to increase water supply for agricultural and domestic use were not sustainable in the long term. 

As significant political change occurred, the National Water Act stressed the need for water management and regulation at both a national and catchment scale, urging the need for equitable water use. At this stage we see the shift towards the IWRM practices we know today, with the development of laws increasing the chances of effectively managing the nations dwindling water supply. This fostered a focus on improving management between stakeholders and communities across South Africa, such as utilising and managing the transboundary Limpopo River Basin which lies across the northern boarder of South Africa.

Map of the Limpopo River Basin, which has IWRM practices to reduce transboundary conflict and utilise water supply efficiently. 

Although IWRM in South Africa has increased engagement between all sectors of the economy as to how to manage and distribute water it is not all positive. The looming, prejudiced perceptions from the apartheid still exist within South African politics and culture, with those living in Townships (specifically in Cape Town) often excluded from decision making practices (the repercussions of the anticipated Day Zero left residents in restricted water use –25 litres, which in the largest Township Khayelitsha is the daily average amount most families use anyway). South Africa continues to work on how to reduce the economic and social gap between White and Black communities, integrating and educating communities on how to manage their water supply on a local level for farming practices whilst implement top-down strategies to maintain city life.