Sustainable water management for resilience to climate change impact on society in South Africa

Water is integrated in society in South Africa in many ways that are vulnerable to the effects of climate change, and is crucial for well-being and quality of life. Sustainable water management is therefore required. Stellenbosch University (SU) and SINTEF collaborate in studying the area in Hessequa Municipality (HM) with water supply from the Korinte Vette Government Water Scehme (KVGWS). The town Riversdale receives water from KVGWS, in addition farms in the area are supplied via an irrigation channel. The demand is expected to exceed capacity in a future climate with less rainfall in the catchment. In 2014, there was a kick-off meeting with SU, SINTEF and HM in Riversdale where the study area was defined. Later, during two subsequent visits to Riversdale in 2015 and one visit from SU to SINTEF in 2015 researchers from SU and SINTEF have collected data for the evaluations of the water cycle services (WCS), and have collaborated on developing a sustainability assessment framework (SAF). The data collection involved collaboration with municipal officials and interviews with stakeholders. In November 2015, a workshop was organised in Riversdale with stakeholders from the public and private sector where results from the SAF and stakeholder interviews were presented by SINTEF and SU, and possible strategic options for adaptation to the expected climate change impacts (CCI) were discussed. In 2016 the project activity has been on completing the assessments and preparing papers for publication. The latter being the focus of a visit by SU to SINTEF in June 2016. The MSc-student from NTNU on social anthropology who started his work in 2015, delivered his MSc thesis in May 2016. The findings have been included in a paper: 'On stakeholder perspectives and the politics of adaptation in local water management: A case study from a South African community', submitted for publication in the journal: Global Environmental Change. The MSc-student from SU studying soil types and land use as part of modelling the water resources submitted his MSc thesis in October 2016. The results have been included in a paper: 'Refined methods to assess climate change impacts: Increased resolution of soils information through morphon segmentation of the Korentepoort mountain catchment', submitted for publication in the journal: South African Journal of Plant and Soil. The sustainability assessment the WCS in the study area was completed in September 2016. The results have been be compared to existing SAFs in a paper, still in preparation, discussing strengths and weaknesses of the different frameworks and the need for local adaptation. As part of a PhD one of the project participants from SU has conducted a study on the expected impacts of the research. A paper presenting this mid-term assessment is in preparation and planned for publication in Water SA. During a visit by SINTEF and SU to Riverdale in November 2016, a workshop with the technical department in Riversdale Municipality was held. At the workshop the results from the study were presented, and the sustainability assessment methodology was used to evaluate and rank HM's plans and strategies for adaptation of WCS to CCI by the municipality participants. A closing meeting with the HM Council finalised the work in Riversdale. The project was presented to DST/WRC and CSIR in a meeting in Pretoria organised by Innovation Norway. In December 2016, SU visited SINTEF to work on dissemination of the results. Four papers are currently in preparation. Of these two have been submitted for publication and two are at the final stage before being submitted. The results from the final workshop will also be included in a final paper to be completed after the closing of the project. Work on the final results report to be submitted to the NRC was also started during the December visit by SU to SINTEF.

Water is considered to be the most critical factor associated with climate change impacts (CCI) and adaptability in South Africa. The water resources and their related ecosystem services (ESS) are of profound importance for sustainable development. Utilis ation of water is typically through man-made water cycle services (WCS), e.g. irrigation systems, water supply and wastewater management infrastructure/-systems. The WCS are vulnerable to CCI, and WCS may impact on the water resources and related ESS thro ugh discharges and their efficiency in water use. In a world with increasing water stress where CCI are expected to worsen the situation, increased resilience through sustainable water management is needed. The project, which is a collaboration between St ellenbosch University and SINTEF, meets this challenge by analysing the current status and predicted CCI on water resources and water related ESS with a focus on their impacts on society in Hessequa Municipality, Western Cape, and assessing the sustainabi lity of WCS in a selected settlement. The sustainability assessment of the WCS will address energy efficiency improvements and economic costs, as well as socio-political dimensions such as equity, participation and poverty-reduction. A holistic methodolog y for evaluating CCI on society will be developed, providing a tool for implementation of integrated water resource management (IWRM) strategies, and increasing resilience to CCI at a local scale. The assessment methodology will enhance knowledge about CC I on society by addressing more aspects of sustainability and adding more transparency to IWRM, thereby facilitating dialogue and capacity-building among a broader set of stakeholders including water manager, local government and researches. The objective of the project is to enhance resilience to CCI on society. The chosen perspective is the water sector and impacts caused by changes in water related ESS and effects on man-made WCS.