WRC South Africa

Today marks Day 3 of the National Wetlands Indaba hosted in the Eastern Cape. Day 3 started off with session 7, with the theme Partnerships, collaboration and governance. This morning we've had various reflections of speakers touching on the transdisciplinary approach towards restoring South Africa’s wetland ecosystems and their catchments, and aligning Natural Resource Management Activities (such as proposed in National Water Resources Strategy 3) with Catchment Management Strategy objectives, among others. Senior Knowledge Coordinator at the Water Research Commission, Dr Roderick Juba spoke about the the establishment of a community of practice for Catchment Management Agencies. One would recall that the WRC has recently hosted two learning events of the emerging community of practice for CMAs, which had a keen focus on CMA revenue collection and sustainability, identified as priorities during the initial engagements. #nationalwetlandsindaba

"How behavioural ‘nudges’ can help people reduce water use, particularly in Johannesburg"

New decision support system for water use efficiency. #WorldFoodDay reminds us of the inextricable link between agriculture and river ecosystems. Irrigated agriculture uses up to 57% of the surface water of the Inkomathi-Usuthi catchment. Threats to the catchment’s water supply arise from the growing population, the increasing frequency and severity of droughts due to climate change, invasive alien plants that consume large quantities of water, and the degradation of water quality by human activities. So, there is need for accurate information and tools for the effective, efficient, and sustainable management of the water resources in line with the Catchment’s Management Strategy. A WRC-funded study reported on detailed data collection on the water use characteristics of selected subtropical tree crops in the Inkomati-Usuthu CMA - IUCMA. The data  were used to develop a decision support system that can potentially be used to support the implementation of planned activities in the IUWMA such as water allocation reforms. To learn more, download the research report: https://lnkd.in/dVvwf7_8

" Unlocking South Africa's indigenous crops to combat hunger, climate change, and boost food security " Tafadzwanashe Mabhaudhi, Samkelisiwe Hlophe-Ginindza, Professor Sylvester Mpandeli Luxon Nhamo write on this #WorldFoodDay

" Fixing water leaks will help avert a national disaster "

"50% treated water lost before it reaches customer | Analysis" via eNCA

" The City of Cape Town's Water and Sanitation Department said it was excited to be partnering with the Water Research Commission to provide eco-friendly, non-sewered toilets to the communities"

" Let’s not forget the gains made – water resource management has taken significant steps over the last decade" - Roderick Juba, Ph.D. writes.

South Africa gets International recognition for 130-year-old irrigation structure. The Douglas Weir, in the Northern Cape, has been recognised as a World Heritage Irrigation Structure by the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID). The weir was nominated by the South African National Committee on Irrigation and Drainage (SANCID) and the award was accepted on behalf of the committee by ICID Vice-President and SANCID Chair, Prof Sylvester Mpandeli, who lead the nomination. The award, in the form of a plaque, was handed over at ICID’s 75th International Executive Council meeting, held in Sydney, Australia, on 1-7 September. The Douglas Weir will also be included in the ICID Register of World Heritage Structures. This is the first time that a South African irrigation structure has received the award since its inception in 2012. Speaking from Australia, Prof Mpandeli said: “This is really good news for South Africa as a country. The country has a rich irrigation history, and SANCID will continue to profile the country’s irrigation structures, canals and dams which are more than 100 years old to the global community.” Originally commissioned in 1890 by the Department of Agriculture, Douglas Weir is a concrete structure built on the left bank of the Vaal River, just above its junction with the Orange River. The original structure comprised loose stones, branches and sods feeding water into a 10 km-long canal. Destructive floods have resulted in the weir being restructured several times during the last 130 years. The last time the weir was raised was in 1977 to a wall height of 10 m and a length of 1 063 m. Today owned by the Department of Water and Sanitation, the weir forms the central infrastructure of the Lower Orange Vaal Water User Association, supplying an area of around 8,113 ha of irrigation.