South Africa’s scarce water needs careful management: research shows smaller, local systems offer greater benefits

South Africa is a water-scarce country, the 30th driest in the world. Water management is becoming increasingly important as the population grows and droughts related to climate change increase. A lack of clean, fresh water negatively impacts people’s health and the amount of food that can be grown.

Agricultural economist Saul Ngarava studied 1,184 homes in the North West, Northern Cape and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa to see which types of water management resulted in better water, energy and food security. He found that the best results were achieved where water was managed democratically by different types of organisations working together.

How is water management carried out in South Africa?

Water management is governed by the Constitution, which states that “Everyone has the right to access adequate food and water,” and assigns different levels of government different responsibilities for water management.

At one end of the spectrum, the national government manages all water resources. At the other end, local government provides clean water to households and disposes of sewage and wastewater.

The National Water Act of 1998 mandates the management of South Africa’s scarce water resources through various local agencies. These include catchment management bodies, water user associations, international engagement bodies and the Water Tribunal.

The Water Services Act of 1997 sets out how these institutions must ensure that everyone has access to basic water and sanitation.

Why are water use regulations important?

Water supports development and can help create jobs and eliminate poverty. It is essential in national planning and therefore it is vital that it is managed well.

In South Africa there are different water governance arrangements: bottom-up and top-down. The two that I have investigated are the water user association and the catchment partnership.

There are 43 water user associations in South Africa: formal, top-down associations of individual water users. One example is a large-scale irrigation scheme that supplies water to commercial, emerging and small-scale farmers and their local towns and villages in key agricultural areas. I have researched the Vaalharts Water User Association, which covers the Taung and Magareng agricultural areas, which span the North West and Northern Cape provinces.

Water User Associations typically have a lot of infrastructure. This can include 100 kilometers of irrigation canals and pipelines. They are primarily aimed at commercial farmers who use this communal irrigation system, and although they provide water to all the houses in the agricultural area, they are largely dictated by farmers.

A catchment partnership is an informal, voluntary, bottom-up collaboration between multiple organizations with shared interests. I conducted research on the Umzimvubu Catchment Partnership in Matatiele, Eastern Cape Province. It consists of over 30 organizations, including the local municipality, the non-profit Environmental Rural Solutions, the provincial forestry department, and the South African National Biodiversity Institute, an academic research institute.

These organizations work together to build social capital: the resources linked to a network of relationships. The network is a gathering of indigenous knowledge, expertise and data, aimed at empowering all participants to take equal ownership of the water governance arrangement.

Catchment partnerships typically serve a smaller area and everyone who lives there. They often aim to preserve a river system and its watershed so that the water can be used for local employment and economic growth.

They do not have expensive water infrastructure and rely on natural resources, wild fruit food or firewood used for cooking.

Are these arrangements unique to South Africa?

Water user associations and catchment partnerships are not unique to South Africa. England, Scotland, Tanzania, Nepal and Indonesia have them too, among others. In these countries, water user associations and catchment partnerships have led to water management by a wide range of organisations and face many of the same challenges.

What problems can arise in water management?

Water user associations such as Vaalharts water user association take more time to make decisions. Technical experts in finance, human resources, engineering and other matters have to be consulted, together with subcommittees that make their voices heard, and even the government’s Department of Water and Sanitation.

This means that infrastructure maintenance and agreements on fair distribution of water among farmers, industry, cities and communities are slow or not at all implemented.

In watershed partnerships, such as the Umzimvubu watershed, local and community organisations work together to build consensus.

This makes decision-making faster, easier and more effective. However, they lack funding, mainly because they are made up of organisations without large funding bases. Sometimes their member organisations take care of their own water needs first before considering the partnership.

What impact do these schemes have on water, energy and food security?

My research showed that the Vaalharts water user association focused exclusively on water safety. But this mainly benefited commercial farmers who grow cash crops such as pecans, alfalfa, peanuts, wheat, citrus fruits and grapes.

My research found that people living in the Umzimvubu catchment partnership generally have higher water, energy, and food security. For example, the households I studied in the Umzimvubu catchment partnership were able to supplement their water supply with clean drinking water from a well that the catchment partnership had restored and protected. The catchment partnership also tested the quality of the water and set up tanks to store it, providing clean, free drinking water to over 700 people.

There was also a limited amount of water available for their livestock. This improved the food security of homes in the Umzimvubu catchment partnership area. Free water meant that families had more money to buy electricity.

The catchment partnership had projects to remove invasive trees that deplete local water supplies. This helps rejuvenate natural grasslands where cattle graze. This creates more food security.

What changes do you propose and why?

The South African government wants to establish more high-level water governance structures, such as water user associations. Based on my research comparing the Vaalharts water user association and Umzimvubu catchment partnership, this is the wrong approach.

Top-down structures that limit broad participation and increase bureaucracy and corruption may not deliver the water, energy and food security that South Africa needs. An effective change would be to disband water user associations and replace them with catchment partnerships.

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