What about SA’s water stresses
THE executive manager for water use and waste management at the Water Research Council, Jay Bhagwan, referred Africa Check to the Aqueduct country and river basin rankings.
Compiled by the World Resources Institute, South Africa was placed 65th out of 180 countries in 2013 when water stress is considered.
Water stress “refers to the level of competition for available water resources”, water programme co-ordinator at the institute, Eliza Swedenborg, told Africa Check.
To determine water stress the institute took into account spatial variations across the country should be considered.
A survey of water stress – which estimates how much demand is placed on a country’s water supply – put South Africa 65th of 180 countries in 2013. (See box below.)
But how useful are rankings anyway?
Manager of the water resources research portfolio at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research in South Africa, Dr Marius Claassen, told Africa Check that while country rankings may help South Africans understand their position as compared to other countries, they are not “the final answer”.
“We need to cope with what we have, regardless of how much other people have,” Claassen said.
Because “rankings aside, South Africa does have significant regions of high water stress, and is very vulnerable to water risks”, Andrew Maddocks, communications officer at the World Resources Institute, told Africa Check.
The claim that South Africa ranks among the 30 driest countries in the world is not supported by available data.
Annual rainfall data shows the country ranked 39th out of 182 countries in 2014. However, an expert told Africa Check that rainfall is only one component that needs to be looked at as it varies considerably across South Africa.