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dam-l SA paper on DSM/LS



This looks like an interesting paper;  below is just a bit of its abstract.
The full paper is available from:
http://www.up.ac.za/academic/libarts/polsci/awiru/op5.html


Demand management, a possible alternative to augmentation?

                           A South African Case Study

                                      by

                              Steve Gillham and Mike Haynes,

                               Umgeni Water, South Africa

Abstract

In South Africa, water is a limiting factor to economic growth. As a
semi-arid country with a highly
variable climate, it is predicted that there will be a national water
crisis in South Africa by 2025. To
address this, and other water related issues, the government has embarked
upon a comprehensive overhaul of
existing water legislation. The new Water Act recognises that there are
limits to the development of new
dams and water transfers and strongly advocates water conservation and
demand management.

The task of water resource planners is to reconcile demand and supply. A
case study within the province of
KwaZulu-Natal is used to demonstrate how the projected demand of this
region will be met through the
application of multiple strategies of demand management, integrated
catchment management and
conventional augmentation. The extent to which the proposed major
augmentation scheme can be delayed
through demand management, and the implications that this will have on all
consumers within the region,
are considered.

It is concluded that effective demand management is desirable even in a
relatively wet area such as
KwaZulu-Natal. It is further concluded that such a strategy should be
undertaken as a supplementary
strategy to conventional augmentation schemes, but cannot replace these
schemes totally.

1. Introduction

      Water resources planners are continually faced with the challenge of
reconciling water demand and supply. In a situation of
      abundant resources, the conventional approach has always been to
develop more dams. Growing global water shortages and
      opposition to large dams from the environmental lobby have, however,
called into question the strategy of applying a
      conventional water resources development philosophy. Both the Asian
Development Bank and the World Commission on
      Dams are currently evaluating a number of large dam projects to
determine the extent to which consideration was given to
      alternatives to the project, the extent to which the project has
achieved its objectives, and whether environmental mitigation
      was successfully achieved. The current drive for transparency is
leading to far greater scrutiny of the need for large water
      resource development schemes, and demanding greater accountability in
decision making.

      The intention is to demonstrate a holistic, multiple strategy
planning approach to the efficient use and development of
      limited water resources. Through the use of a South African case
study, the following strategies are discussed within the
      context of a revised water legislative framework:

      Resource management, which applies the principles of integrated
catchment management to the problem of catchment
      development and its impacts on runoff;

      Conventional water resources development, which includes the
construction of dams and inter-basin transfer schemes to
      address water availability from a supply perspective;

      Water demand management, which focuses on the efficient use of water
by consumers and which can be used to delay the
      implementation of costly water resource infrastructure.

      It will be demonstrated that an exclusive focus on a single strategy
is unlikely to achieve an optimal economic balance of
      efficiency, sustainability and equity in the use of water resources.

      2. Changes in legislation: A new paradigm for water management in
South Africa

      South Africa's previous water law applied the same rules of the
well-watered colonising countries of Europe to the arid and
      variable climate of South Africa. It has, however, been recognised
that privileged access to land and economic power has
      resulted in an inequitable distribution of water rights. With the end
of the Apartheid era, South Africa's water law has been
      replaced with a new National Water Act, which was promulgated in 1998.

      The new water policy recognises that there are limits to the
development of new dams and water transfers. To provide for
      growth and development of the South African economy in the 21st
century, attention is being paid to current water usage
      which is often wasteful and inefficient. There has thus been a
paradigm shift in approach to water management: away from
      an exclusive focus on building more dams, to one which encompasses
water conservation.

      Key principles underpinning the policy proposals for future water
management in South Africa, and germane to the issue of
      water quantity, include:

      Treatment of all water in the water cycle as a common resource,
subject to common approaches to water resource
      management;

      Guaranteeing as a right, a "reserve" of water required to meet basic
human needs, and maintain environmental sustainability;

      Allocation of water that promotes use which is optimal for the
achievement of equitable and sustainable economic and social
      development;

      The development of a binding water use, conservation, and protection
policy by all major water use sectors;

      The recognition of river catchments as water management areas, and
the provision for the phased establishment of catchment
      management agencies, to undertake water resource management in these
areas.

      Farming, including dry-land agriculture and forestry plantations
accounts for about half the nation's water use. New
      legislation will regulate the impact of these sectors on water resources.

3. Water resources situation in South Africa

      South Africa is a semi-arid country with a mean annual rainfall of
about 475mm, which is well below the world average of
      860mm. The rainfall is unevenly distributed across the country
leading to periodic droughts which are both severe and
      prolonged.

      According to Perkins (1998), figures released by the United Nations
rank South Africa as 11th from the bottom on an index
      of 50 Countries in the World with the least annual renewable water
availability per capita. South Africa is already below the
      water stress level of 1 700 m3/capita/annum, deteriorating from 3 500
m3/capita/annum in 1955 to 1 200 m3/capita/annum
      in 1990 and it is predicted that by 2025 the level will be about 700
m3/capita/annum which is below the water critical
      threshold of 1 000 m3/capita/annum.

(MORE!)

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      Lori Pottinger, Director, Southern Africa Program,
        and Editor, World Rivers Review
           International Rivers Network
              1847 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, California 94703, USA
                  Tel. (510) 848 1155   Fax (510) 848 1008
                        http://www.irn.org
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