Water security critical to SAs economy

South Africa?s water resources required smarter management if the water-stressed country was to ensure long-term water security and avoid a ripple-effect knock to its economy, said Plus Economics chief economist Charlotte du Toit on Friday.

Water, which should be treated as a scarce commodity in the country, was the heartbeat of South Africa?s economy and remained a matter of national survival, she said at an Uasa seminar titled ?Getting strategic water partners together?.

Plus Economics simulated limited water availability scenarios which revealed that a lack of water could lead to the loss of 200 000 jobs in the water industry and result in a 1.2% decline in gross domestic product.

A decrease in available water supply, the firm found, would also have a ?ripple effect? on other industries, leading to reduced production and job losses. For every one job lost in the water sector, over two jobs would be shed within other industries.

South Africa was considered the thirtieth-driest country in the world, suffering from low levels of rainfall, with high variability and high levels of evaporation owing to its hot climate. Two-thirds of South Africa is semi-arid with an average rainfall of 420 mm ? less than half the global average.

Further, the United Nations ?World Water Development Report 2012? ranked South Africa 148 out of 180 countries for water availability per capita.

The Water Resources Group estimated that, based on growth projections and current efficiency levels,? a water supply/demand gap of 17% would emerge by 2030, as demand for the scarce commodity continued to rise.

Unresolved water security, water quality and associated water management challenges could restrict South Africa?s socioeconomic growth.

Engineering News Online previously reported that the agriculture sector, on which 8.5-million people were indirectly or directly dependent for employment or income, accounted for 60% of the country?s water use. This was followed by the municipal domestic sectors which used 27%.

However, the municipalities registered water losses of up to 37% and, where no records were kept, it was estimated that this loss reached 50%. In many irrigation and domestic schemes, losses reached 60%.

The mining, energy and industrial sectors last year used 2.5%, 2% and 3%, respectively, of the available water in South Africa.

Du Toit commented that South Africa had adequate infrastructure to supply water, but said the industry had struggled post-recession to maintain, rehabilitate, manage or correctly use the current infrastructure, as investments retracted.

Prior to the recession ? between 2002 and 2008 ? the sector attracted significant investments towards water infrastructure development. Since 2009, this investment had maintained a downward trend.

However, the threat to water security provided an opportunity for all stakeholders to partner to pull the industry out of its post-recession slump, develop the sector further and get the country?s ?affairs in order?.

Plus Economics? research found that the liveability index of South Africa?s households could increase from the current below-par 2.2 points, to 2.5 points, if the country managed its water supply smartly.

The liveability index was scaled from zero to five, and included the incomes, expenses, living and working conditions, assets, education and training and work stability, besides others, of the households in South Africa.

She further indicated that an increase in water demand of R1-million would increase total output within the economy by over R2.3-million.

The improvement in the productivity and liveability indexes would boost growth and development by 5%.

Further, for every one job created in the water sector, another five would be created in other industries.

Du Toit believed there was ?clear scope? to create more jobs in the water sector without placing pressure on the industry.

Meanwhile, she said South Africa had already revealed and acknowledged the core challenges to the surety of safe and sufficient water supply, and had developed a strategy going forward, but had struggled with moving from the planning stages to implementation.

She cited Kenya?s adoption of South Africa?s water plans over 15 years ago.

University of Witwatersrand Graduate School of Public and Development Management visiting Professor Mike Muller explained that, when South Africa tabled its National Water Act in 1998, Kenya and Mozambique successfully implemented the concepts within the legislation and had questioned why South Africa, which had developed it, had not yet moved on the strategies after a decade.

Muller said strong collaboration between industry, government and communities was now essential to adequately deal with the water challenges.

The collaboration of interested parties, namely government, business, environmental bodies and communities, would ensure the emergence of comprehensive solutions and strategies.

However, he pointed out that significant strides had been made, to date, with several projects under way, citing the Lesotho Highlands Water Project Phase 2, besides others, and that partnerships had secured the success of the progress that South Africa had made.

Muller did not believe South Africa would experience a national water security crisis on the scale of that of State-owed power utility Eskom?s energy challenges, but the country was experiencing small bouts of water crisis within smaller communities that, if left unchecked, could escalate.

Edited by: Chanel de Bruyn

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Source: http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/water-security-critical-to-sas-economy-2013-03-22

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