The National Planning Commission has paid particular attention to water issues and how they impact and influence our development pathways and opportunities.new growth path,
Water has a role to play in four out of five of the job drivers identified in the New Growth Path (NGP) and the National Water Resource Strategy 2 (NWRS-2) supports the New Growth Path in the following areas: Jobs driver 1: Infrastructure for employment and development – The NWRS-2 includes a sub-strategy that focuses on infrastructure development and management, which will create new job opportunities over the next five years. The sub-strategy outlines a plan for funding infrastructure development needed to support economic growth in South Africa. Jobs driver 2: Improving job creation in economic sectors – The NWRS-2 includes reconciliation strategies for balancing water supply and demand in high growth areas. It also provides a framework for strong sector leadership, streamlined water use authorisation processes and an economic regulator. The NWRS-2 also prioritises water conservation and water demand management (WC/WDM) in all sectors in order to increase productivity per unit of water. This enables the possibility of the water saved being used in new or expanded enterprises. Job driver 3: Seizing the potential of new economies – The NWRS-2 makes provision for the recycling and reuse of wastewater, and for water to be used in supporting the green economy and the creation of jobs in this area. National government outcomes The Cabinet Lekgotla in January 2010 adopted 12 government outcomes, which are the key indicators for the national government’s programme of action for the period 2010 to 2014. The following national government outcomes are intricately linked with availability of water resources: Outcome 2: A long and healthy life for all South Africans – Water is fundamental requirement for human health. The NWRS-2 makes provision for allocation of water to meet basic human needs and includes a sub-strategy for protection of water resources. Outcome 5: A skilled and capable workforce to support an inclusive growth path – The NWRS-2 recognises the importance of a technically competent workforce in the sustainable management of water resources and it includes a sub-strategy for water sector capacity building. Outcome 6: The NWRS-2 makes provision for investment in water infrastructure to support economic development through a strategy for infrastructure development and management, and the National Water Sector Investment Framework. Outcome 7: Vibrant, equitable and sustainable rural communities with food security for all – The NWRS-2 adopts the principle of ‘source to tap and back to source’ and maximisation of local water resources to improve access to adequate water for domestic and productive use in rural communities in particular. The equity and redress focus of the NWRS-2 is particularly in line with supporting outcome 7. Outcome 8: Sustainable human settlements and improved quality of household life, and Outcome 9: A responsive,accountable, effective and efficient local government system – The NWRS-2 provides options forwater resource development to meet water supply and sanitation services for a growing population and forthe provision of higher levels of service. Outcome 10: Environmental assets and natural resources that are well protected and continually enhanced – Protection of water resources and associated aquatic ecosystems is one of the strategic goals of the NWRS-2 and a sub-strategy for protection of water resources and regulatory framework for water resources are included. Industrial Policy Action Plan 2 The Industrial Policy Action Plan 2 (IPAP 2) is a central tool in the NGP job creation strategy (DTI, 2011). The NWRS-2 is in line with the IPAP2 support for job creation through the promotion of rainwater harvesting, water recycling and the production of water and energy efficient appliances. Rural Development Strategy Water availability is a crucial input to the Rural Development Strategy. The NWRS-2 makes provision for supporting rural development through the multiple use of dams, investment in appropriate water infrastructure,water allocation reform and a programme of support to small-scale water users. National Biodiversity Management Strategy This strategy falls under the auspices of the Department of Environmental Affairs, and is aimed, inter alia, at the integrated management of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems (DEAT, 2005). Protection of aquatic ecosystems is addressed in a specific strategy in the NWRS-2. Irrigation Strategy The Irrigation Strategy, developed by the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, aims to increase the contribution of agriculture to the GDP, reduce poverty and create employment (DAFF, 2010). It also aims to increase water use efficiency and redress imbalances in access to irrigated agriculture for historically disadvantaged groups. The NWRS-2 makes provision for infrastructure development to support the implementation of this strategy, sets targets for water use efficiency by the agriculture sector and sets targets for water reallocation to historically disadvantaged water users. National Energy Efficiency Strategy This strategy has set a target for energy efficiency improvement of 12% by 2015 (DE, 2010). This will contribute to a reduction in CO2 and also reduce water use, which is a key input to energy generation. The NWRS-2 addresses water demand management initiatives for the energy sector in the WC/WDM sub-strategy. National tourism strategy The National Tourism Sector Strategy (NDT, 2011) has set a growth target of 3.5% in 2015 from a rate of 3.2% in 2009. The NWRS-2 has made provision for infrastructure development in high-growth centres, which will ensure that there is adequate water for meeting the needs of tourists to South Africa. The NWRS-2 also promotes the use of water resources for recreation and the protection of water resources, which will support jobs and income generated from tourism. Mineral Beneficiation Strategy The government objectives with respect to mining focus not only on the mining of primary commodities, but also on significant contribution to the economy through beneficiation (manufacturing) and on mining tourism (services). The NWRS-2 makes provision for infrastructure development to support the implementation of this strategy and it also sets targets for water use efficiency by the mining sector. There is potentially sufficient water available for development
To date, South Africa’s water security has mainly been reliant on surface (fresh) water and its development. Based on water reconciliation studies, it is clear that surface water availability and its remaining development potential will be insufficient to support the growing economy and associated needs in full. Surface water development potential only exists in a limited few water management areas, while serious challenges remain in the majority of water management areas.
Where additional water is still available, such as in the uThukela, Mzimvubu and Pongola basins, it is located in relatively remote areas, far from existing centres of demand. The limits to the development of surface water sources have almost been reached and the opportunities for economic siting of new dams are few and far between (Department of Water Affairs (DWA), 2010). The costs of transfers per cubic metre to locations where water is needed are also rising with longer distances and escalating energy costs. In addition, the development of new water resources infrastructure is a complex and time-consuming process that typically takes more than a decade from inception to commissioning (DWA, 2010). For larger and more complex projects with environmental and political sensitivities, the lead times may be more than two decades. This highlights the need for careful planning with long time horizons. To meet growing demands, South Africa will therefore need to exploit alternative resources. The good news that by adopting a more holistic approach towards water management, its availability and its use, water resources can be defined in a much broader context. Despite being a water-scarce country, South Africa faces high levels of water wastage and inefficient use. In municipalities, non-revenue water sits at more than 37% on average, although it is not measured in many municipalities where losses are estimated to be close to 50%. In many irrigation and domestic schemes it is worse, with losses of up to 60%. In terms of loss in revenue, these losses account for more than R11 billion a year in the municipal sector alone. Many municipalities, water user associations and farmers do not meter water use and are unable to assess their water losses. This is exacerbated by a lack of infrastructure asset management, operation and maintenance. The result is that demand is exceeding supply in many areas. The catchments that supply water to the Durban-Pietermaritzburg area for example are already in deficit in terms of water provision. Other large water supply systems will soon face a similar situation. It is essential that such water losses must be accounted for and curtailed, especially in terms of the need to provide for the growing water demands of new socio-economic development. By including water loss reduction, water use efficiency and demand management, improved water governance, optimisation of existing water resources including groundwater, rainwater harvesting and water systems management, reuse of water, resource protection and recharge, as well as desalination in the resource pool, South Africa has adequate water resource potential to serve its requirements for many years to come. Groundwater is a significant and under-utilised resource in many parts of the country, although local yields are usually quite low. The most recent estimate of sustainable potential yield of groundwater resources at high assurance is 7 500 million cubic metres per annum, with potentially about 3 500 million cubic metres available for further development. This resource is, however, widely distributed and often far from centres of demand. In ensuring sufficient water, spatial and local challenges remain, where the format (characteristics) of these specific resources, the associated cost of supply, user-specific footprints, competing demand and the critical need for reallocation to marginalised groups, will dictate particular development solutions and allocation criteria. Water economics and allocation priorities One of the principles that informed the White Paper on a National Water Policy states that the objective for management of water resources is “to achieve optimum, long-term, environmentally sustainable social and economic benefit for society from itsuse”. This recognises,in essence, that water has social, economic and ecological value. The White Paper also recognises that weighing up the social and/or economic benefits of competing water uses is not easy, and becomes more complex when the ecological costs and benefits must be considered as well. This means that the decision on how best to allocate water between competing uses requires a complex and difficult assessment, which includes the ability to assess social, economic and ecological values arising from various water uses. Overall, however, there is an insufficient appreciation of the value of water, the challenges of the water situation and the effort required to make water available on a sustained basis. This is reflected in the way water is wasted, water resources are polluted and aquatic habitats degraded. These same factors reveal weaknesses in the current governance arrangements and the priority accorded to water in the social agenda. The three-dimensional value of water has implications for water financing and how to determine the cost of water. Several elements make up the cost of providing reliable supplies of water, which include: 1. Direct infrastructure and management costs, which include the capital, operation and maintenance costs of infrastructure and the costs of managing water, which include planning, monitoring, regulating and so on. 2. Economic costs, including opportunity costs, which reflect the scarcity value of the resource, the cost of depriving a potential user of water and economic externalities. The economic externalities consist of two elements: positive externalities, such as the groundwater recharge benefits from irrigation, and negative externalities, such as downstream pollution impacts from industrial discharge. 3. Full costs. These are the sum of the supply and economic costs, plus environmental and social externalities such as costs to public health and ecosystems arising from, for example, pollution of water resources. This then leads to the questions of who pays the costs of managing and providing water, who pays for aquatic ecosystem protection, and how the price of water is determined. There are three sources of funding for water development and management: taxes, tariffs and transfer of funds from aid agencies and international donors. While there can be no argument that the full costs of developing, managing and providing water must be covered, the question is how best to utilise the options of taxes, tariffs and transfers of funds to cover these costs. In consideration of this, issues of equity and affordability must be taken into account, as well as using pricing as a tool for driving water use efficiency and pollution reduction. A sustainable water price in South Africa is one that will:- reflect true costs (including infrastructure, management and environmental costs) and incentivise efficientwater use and reduced pollution
- promote least-cost solutions to providing water
- achieve equity in terms of incorporating cost-sharing practices as needed, to enhance affordability for poorwater users
- enhance the long-term viability of water institutions.
