Growth doomed if state fails to protect SA’s water-source areas
Water must be at the core of any discussion about economic transformation. The National Development Plan foresees an SA where “in 2030, the country’s social and economic development will reflect an understanding of and an alignment with available water resources.
“All main urban and industrial centres will have a reliable supply of water to meet their needs, while increasingly efficient agricultural water use will support productive and inclusive rural communities.”
The plan says that “water should be recognised as a foundation for activities such as tourism and recreation, further reinforcing the importance of its protection”.
Without access to water, any discussion about prioritising the poor, redistributing land and uniting South Africans through “inclusive growth” is moot. The economy cannot survive, let alone thrive, without water.
Unfortunately, with SA receiving only half of the world’s average annual rainfall, and with 60% of its river ecosystems under threat, water resources are precarious. Eight provinces were declared disaster areas in 2016 and the Western Cape is suffering a crippling drought. An emerging water crisis is adding to SA’s many societal risks.
To date, SA has relied on engineering solutions to supply water to urban areas and the drier parts. But climate change is disrupting many predictions and solutions, while demand for water continues to grow.
In these circumstances, engineering solutions alone will not keep the taps running. For that, SA has to start taking special care of water-source areas. These are nature’s headwaters, covering only 8% of SA’s land yet providing 50% of the surface water that supplies all the main rivers, lakes, streams and dams.
The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has mapped these areas in a project that was supported by the South African National Biodiversity Institute and the national departments of water and sanitation and environmental affairs.
Situated mostly high up in mountain catchments, watersource areas are the “crown jewels” of SA’s water resources and have a significant effect on the lives and businesses of many. What happens in the Maloti-Drakensberg region, for example, affects millions of people downstream from it.
For this reason, these areas should receive the highest priority in national and biodiversity planning.
Many of these 22 areas are critical for growth and development as they support at least 51% of SA’s population with surface water and form the backbone of 64% of the economy, according to the latest CSIR research.
Only 13% of these watersource areas are formally protected, mainly in terms of the National Environmental Management: Protected Areas Act, 2003. Fortunately, natural vegetation still covers about two-thirds of these areas — their slope and altitude have limited development. This offers an opportunity for sound and integrated planning, oversight and governance that takes their true value into account.
Unfortunately, the risks posed by activities such as open-cast coal mining and unsustainable forestry practices in water-source areas are growing. Allowing such activities in these areas defies science and common sense.
However, providing adequate legal protection for water-source areas requires more than responsible planning. It is also a constitutional obligation.
The state holds the environment and water resources in public trust for the people of SA. It must develop and use proactive legal protection to properly regulate activities in these areas. This requires long-term investment in ecological infrastructure that supports future prospects.
The state has a constitutional obligation to realise everyone’s rights to access drinking water.
There will soon not be enough water if the state fails take urgent measures to protect and manage our water source areas
ENGINEERING SOLUTIONS ALONE WILL NOT KEEP THE TAPS RUNNING