During the Water Research Commission (WRC) Symposium Gala Dinner held at the CSIR on 26 September 2013, Dr Nico Benadé was awarded for the development of training material for implementation of the Water Administration System (WAS), an integrated information system for reduction of water distribution losses on irrigation schemes. Dr Benadé’s work falls under WRC -funded projects that have contributed to job creation, economic development through the development of innovative technologies.

According to Dr Benadé WAS is a uniquely a South African integrated management tool for irrigation schemes that delivers water on demand through canal networks, pipelines and rivers. WAS is used for water distribution management and for the calculation of canal and dam operating procedures for a given downstream demand. Many years of research went into the development of the WAS program with its main aim to minimize water losses on irrigation schemes. Field measurements indicated water savings between 10 to 20% on implementing the water release module of the WAS program alone.

Dr Benadé emphasises that water loss reduction on an irrigation scheme points towards opportunities to improve water management practices and this requires determining the baseline of current water losses in South Africa. Implementation of the WAS program will therefore systematically lead to improvement of irrigation water management. The different modules of the WAS program can be implemented partially or as a whole, depending on the requirements of a specific scheme. It therefore makes sense to implement the modules that make the biggest difference first. It is also important to emphasize that a computerised water management system like the WAS program prevents human errors that can lead to potentially huge water losses. Feedback from WAS users at training courses indicates that after converting, it is considered impossible to manage Irrigation schemes without the use of the WAS program. WAS has hugely contributed to water saving in irrigation schemes that have applied it over the past few years.

In 2006, Dr Benadé received the Watsave Innovation Water Management Award from the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage for his development and the implementation of WAS.