Global Water Scarcity Affects Billions

Photo: Flicker/Creative Commons
2018
Sanchita Talukdar
30th April 2018
Global perspective on water scarcity

Section - Page | 1
Acknowledgement
This report was funded by David Lipschitz.
Contact: david@mypowerstation.biz
(c) David Lipschitz and Sanchita Talukdar, 2018.

Table of Content
Part I. Water a Vital Resource ............................................................... I-3
Section 1.01 Water Stress and Water Access: Health Implications..... I-7
(a) Water Stress ............................................................................... I-8
(b) Water Access............................................................................ I-10
Part II. Water Scarcity and Crimes ...................................................... II-14
Part III. Water Governance in South Africa ......................................... III-18
Section 3.01 Undiversified water supply .......................................... III-19
Section 3.02 Unsustainable water demand and management......... III-22
Section 3.03 Water security: Best Practice...................................... III-24
Part IV. The Way Forward................................................................IV-27
Part V. Reference ................................................................................V-30

Section - Page | I-3
Part I. Water a Vital Resource
Water resources provide vital ecosystem services - provisioning, regulating,
cultural and support (Millennium Development goals report, 2011) functions
that are essential drivers for sustainable economic development (WWAP,
2016) impacting critical health, hygiene and life sustaining parameters that
derive human wellbeing. It is “critical to the resilience of landscapes and
communities” (Rockstrom J., et al 2014) which “depend on freshwater, both
in terms of ‘green’ evapotranspiration water for plant growth and ‘blue’
environmental water flows to sustain ecological habitats” (Rockstrom, J. et
al. 2014).
Figure 1: Human well being as a driver and receptor of ecosystem services. Source: Rockstrom
et al 2014
Figure 1 illustrates the “interconnectedness between social drivers and
processes in the landscape, where water – “blue” as well as “green” –
interacts with ecosystems in producing goods and services to secure human
wellbeing. Sustaining this social-ecological system demands a set of social
Key Milestone agreements
on water:
2010: In 2010, the United
Nations General Assembly
acknowledged under its
resolution (A/RES/64/292) “the
importance of equitable access
to safe and clean drinking
water and sanitation as an
integral component of the
realization of all human
rights”(United Nations 2010)
2015: The 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development
adopted by the member states
of the United Nations, on
September 2015, aligns a time
bound meeting of Goal 6 –
“Ensure availability and
sustainable management of
water and sanitation for all”, in
order to achieve affordable
universal drinking water,
sanitation and hygiene targets.
The sub goals under Goal 6,
address significant issues
emanating in the freshwater
cycle.
March 22, 2018: The UN
General Assembly proclaims
the period from 2018 to 2028
the International Decade for
Action, “Water for Sustainable
Development” (the “Decade”),
to further improve cooperation,
partnership and capacity
development in response to the
ambitious 2030 Agenda. The
Decade builds on the
achievements of the previous
“Water for Life” Decade,
2005-2015.

transformations: water governance, global cooperation and water
management” (Rockstrom J., et al. 2014).
The salience of accessible and sufficient water resources for nations and
communities under any stage of development, lies in its ability to enable the
freedoms to choose from “possible livings” (Sen, A.K. 2002), which is a
vector of capabilities to achieve opportunities and a way of life that conform
to the economic, social, aesthetic, cultural and ecological ambitions of a
community or a country. Access to safe and sufficient drinking water at an
affordable cost in order to meet basic needs, which includes sanitation and
hygiene (cf. United Nations General Assembly, 2010), and the safeguarding
of health and well-being (UNU, 2013) remains the central pillar for all
discourses on water security as “the overarching goal of water
management” (GWP, 2000; Hoekstra, A et al. 2018).
For the marginal, mostly rural, communities in South Asia, Sub Saharan
Africa, Latin America and parts of South East Asia, “who primarily rely on
rain-fed agricultural practices, access to safe and reliable water resource
such as ponds, streams, rivers and lakes, and sustainably managed water
resources directly translates into providing food security, livelihood
protection, expanding local economies, thus improving living standards and
influencing greater social inclusion” (WWAP, 2016).
Water is linked to food security as it sustains agricultural food production
and stabilizes food prices for domestic consumption as well as in
international food markets for key agricultural produce (DeSouza A. and
Warren H., 2018) such as rice, wheat, maize/corn, coffee and fruits. The
State of Food Security and Nutrition Report 2017, provides crucial insights
into the impact of climate related disasters on food security. The report
observes that prolonged droughts and floods in rural economies of Asia,
Africa and south-eastern Asia has led to a hike in food prices, loss of
agricultural production, “drop in food availability causing food insecurity thus
setting in motion a vicious circle of violent conflict and civil insecurity” (FAO
et al, 2017 ; The Global Risk Report 2017, 2018)).
Sustainable urban water services in identified water scarce nations in South
Asia, MENA, the Sahel, Southern Africa, Central Asia and parts of Latin
America (Water Scarce Cities Initiative, The World Bank) therefore,
“contribute to inclusive growth and political stability in fragile contexts. Water

services in these regions are part of a social contract, failing which could
destabilize large urban centers (World Bank, 2018) inciting collapse of
social order and political regimes.
Water is a prime ingredient to heat, cool and is used as a basic element for
all industrial activities (PwC, 2011). Under unregulated environmental policy
scenarios, water acts as a direct medium for absorbing all kinds of industrial
and municipal wastes. An estimated 80 per cent of waste is released
worldwide without any treatment (WWAP, 2017) triggering water scarcity
(Tortajada et al , 2018) in even water-abundant regions of the world. Waste
water pollution is recognized as a critical driver of water scarcity in almost all
regions of the world (WWAP,2017). This has initiated industrial and
technological innovations catalyzing circular economy scenarios (Fischedick
M. et. al. 2014, Global Risks 2014) where industrial waste water of one
industry enters into the production cycles of another industry as a resource,
thus ensuring optimum water efficiency.
In the last three consecutive annual reports of the World Economic Forum
(WEF) water crisis has been ranked as one of the top three risks, as an
outcome of “failure of climate change and mitigation strategies”. (The Global
Risk Report,2017). This has led to forced internal migrations of populations
due to land desertification in Sub Saharan Africa, droughts in East and
Southern Africa, frequent flooding in India, Pakistan, China and Bangladesh
in South Asia, Thailand, Philippines in South East Asia. Within countries, an
estimated 143 million people in 2017, were internally displaced due to
climate related disasters (Kumari R. et al, 2018) with the largest internal
migration in Sub Saharan Africa (86 million), followed by South Asia (40
million) and Latin America (7 million).
Mekonen and Hoekstra (2016) estimate four billion people in the planet live
under conditions of severe water scarcity on a monthly basis (including India
(1.0 billion) and China (0.9 billion)) and another half a billion, face water
scarcity for all the year round (Hoekstra & Mekonen, 2016) and this
population could increase to some 4.8–5.7 billion by 2050 (WWDR, 2018).
Water crises engulf countries, broadly, 10 to 40 degrees north from Mexico
to China, western South America and Southern Africa in the Southern
Hemisphere (Veldkamp, et al. 2017, WWAP, 2018). Water scarcity is a
function of mismanaged water resources leading to overconsumption and

wastage, lack of preparedness to climate related weather uncertainty in
agrarian and urban contexts and relying on undiversified water supply
sources. Examples include, the case of Cape Town in South Africa, reeling
under extreme drought for the last three years relies on rain-fed reservoirs
as the only means of urban water supply which has shrunk drastically
inviting “Day Zero” and acute water rationing. A similar trend in shrinking
reservoirs impacting surface water availability and electricity production,
could be observed for the Al-Massira Dam in Morocco, Indira Sagar Dam in
India, Mosul Dam in Iraq and Spain’s Buendia Dam (Iceland C. et al., 2018).
Global demand for agricultural and energy production (mainly food and
electricity), both of which are water-intensive, is expected to increase by
roughly 60% and 80% respectively by 2025 (Alexandratos and Bruinsma,
2012; OECD, 2012; WWAP, 2018), however, industrial and domestic
demand for water will likely to grow much faster than agricultural demand.
This is mainly due to rising population and rapid urbanization with a push
towards greater industrialization and municipal water needs.
The urgency to mitigate water related risks causing freshwater scarcity has
been “at the heart of international milestone agreements such as the 2030
Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Sendai Framework for Disaster
Risk Reduction 2015-2030, and the 2015 Paris Agreement.”(UN, 2018). In
the recently summoned launch of International decade for water -2018-
2020, on March 22, World Water Day, the international community
recognized the global dimensions of the severity of water crisis with an
immediate call for concerted action and governance.
While countries and regions vary based on their agrarian status and income
levels, population size and economic activity, there is a common concern
around the globe for water related issues driven by uncertainties in weather
related precipitation levels affecting rainfall, declining reservoir capacity,
diminishing rivers and disasters such as floods and droughts.
This report delineates the pressures of water scarcity on countries during
the onset of prolonged drought /frequent floods with the objective of
highlighting best practices, scalable interventions that integrate uncertainties
and risk into the water governance architecture.


Table 1 : Extremely high water stressed
countries in the world
Rank Name
1 Antigua and Barbuda
1 Bahrain
1 Barbados
1 Comoros
1 Cyprus
1 Dominica
1 Jamaica
1 Malta
1 Qatar
1 Saint Lucia
1 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
1 San Marino
1 Singapore
1 Trinidad and Tobago
1 United Arab Emirates
1 Western Sahara
17 Saudi Arabia
18 Kuwait
19 Oman
20 Libya
It is divided into three parts. The first part begins with understanding the
concept of water scarcity in the context of water stress and water access.
The impact of water scarcity and drought conditions on human health,
including WaSH (Water and Sanitation) mortality occurrence due to poor
water availability and unmet Sustainable Development Goals is then
assessed. The second part documents water related crimes defined by
conflicts arising out of inadequate water availability. The vicious cycle of
corruption-water theft- water scarcity has been illustrated. The third part is a
review of best practices on urban water governance relevant to water
scarcity issue around the globe.
Section 1.01 Water Stress and Water Access: Health
Implications
Freshwater scarcity is commonly described as a function of available water
resources and human population (Matlock, et al, 2011, Brown et al. 2011).
It may mean physical scarcity of water due to uneven distribution across
geographical realms and as a direct
outcome of climate change disasters
such as floods and droughts. For
example, out of an estimated 43,750
cubic kilometers of fresh water
resources per year at the continent
level, America constitutes the largest
share (45%), followed by Asia with
28%, Europe with 16% and Africa with
9%. (Mancosu et al, 2015).
Concepts and
Definitions:
Baseline water stress
measures total annual
water withdrawals
(municipal, industrial, and
agricultural) expressed as a
percentage of the total
annual available blue
water. Higher values
indicate more competition
among users.( Gassert, F.,
P. Reig, T. Luo, and A.
Maddocks. 2013)
Fresh water scarcity can
mean scarcity in availability
due to physical shortage, or
scarcity in access due to
the failure of institutions to
ensure a regular supply or
due to a lack of adequate
infrastructure. (UNU, 2018).
Access to safe water “is
measured by the proportion
of population with access to
an adequate amount of
safe drinking water located
within a minimum distance
located within a convenient
distance from the user’s
dwelling”(http://www.un.org
/esa/population/pubsarchiv
e/chart/12.pdf )

(a) Water Stress
The World Resources Institute’s Aqueduct project in 2013 found 36
countries face “extremely high” levels of baseline water stress- with more
than 80 per cent of its available water used for agricultural, domestic and
municipal needs (WRI, 2014). Table 1 lists the 20 most water stressed
countries from that list.
Figure 3: WRI-Aqueduct
The ranking, then excluded South Africa among the 36 most water stressed
countries. Nevertheless, as could be clearly noted from Figure 3 below, the
Aqueduct project indicated South Africa’s high overall water risk situation,
meaning, it is susceptible to acute water stress leading to scarcity if water
demand and supply is not managed effectively.
Figure 4: WRI-Aqueduct

A high baseline water stress was also recorded for City of Cape Town
(CCT) situated in the Western Cape Region of South Africa. “When drought
strikes where baseline water stress is high, it exacerbates the regions’ water
woes” (Maddocks A., 2014).
The negative impacts of the drought in the City of Cape Town in South
Africa are magnified due to its heavy reliance on a single water source-
surface water from dams and reservoirs for consumption. Water supply was
affected by a record low precipitation and high evaporation rate. Figure 4
highlights the extremely high levels of baseline water stress in CCT due to
the ongoing drought.
However, it should be noted that water stress does not always mean
countries actually facing water scarcity if best practices in water governance
accounts for water stress early on.
Singapore, for example, has the highest water stress ranking (5.0) (WRI,
2014). Despite a near absence of freshwater lakes or aquifers and demand
for water exceeding the supply; the country has emerged as a global leader
in water governance. A mix of heavy investments in innovation , research
and design of water technologies for monitoring of water quality , water
usage, reuse of reclaimed water and desalination projects as well as state
of the art drainage infrastructure to channelize storm water and rainfall
captured in one-third of its catchment area, to its man-made reservoirs.
Singapore focused on water demand management strategies to deal with
rising water demand by , utilizing insights such as reporting households’
comparative water usage in the water bill to modify high water consumption
behavior, devising of progressive water tax for profligate water users and
providing targeted subsidies for the poor households.
The country is a classic case of good water governance which has enabled
resilience thinking and innovative technologies as key to managing water
security for its nation.

(b) Water Access
There are 844 million people globally who lack basic drinking water services
(Water Aid, 2018, WHO-UNICEF, 2017). “Diseases due to poor drinking-
water access, unimproved sanitation, and poor hygiene practices cause
4.0% of all deaths and 5.7% of all disability or ill health in the world.” (WHO
2018). Contaminated drinking water is estimated to cause more than 500
000 diarrheal deaths each year (WHO, 2018).
Access to water in the proximity of households is critical for practicing
hygiene (Howard and Bartram, 2003), tackling malnutrition and infectious
disease
1
(Cairncross et al, 1987) and meeting hygiene-related health
outcomes. Pickering A. J. and Davis J (2012) in a cross-sectional study of
children in Subsaharan Africa, observed that a five-minute decrease in the
time to a water source was associated with a 14% fall in diarrhea risk and a
higher bodyweight score in children under five. “A fifteen-minute decrease in
collection time was associated with a 41% decrease in diarrhea risk for the
same age group. The authors noted that this level of reduction in diarrheal
disease morbidity is on par with reductions associated with sanitation, hand
washing, and water disinfection interventions” [Pickering and Davis, 2012,
cited by Graham J. et al. 2016].
In a study on water collection labor among women and children for 24
Subsaharan African (SSA) countries, it was found that adult females (68%)
among households spending over 30 minutes to collect water in all 24 SSA
countries, were the primary collectors while among households in countries
(Ethiopia, Burundi, Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon) with children collecting water,
female children were preferred over their male counterparts (Graham J.P.,
et al, 2016). This has serious health implications due to unmet sanitation
and hygiene standards. A higher water collection time is increasingly
associated with increased risk of moderate to severe diarrhea among
children (Nygren BL et. al, 2016).
1
“Cairncross et al. (1987) highlighted that villagers in a study community without a close water
supply stated that they often “cooked little, and only once a day, because of the lack of water”.
In the same study, the researchers found that the community with better water access had a
prevalence of trachoma of 19% versus 38% in the community without ready access to water.”
[Cairncross et al, 1987 cited by Graham J. P. et al., 2016)

Mortality rates due to unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene services in
countries in Africa in 2012 is triple to that of the global average.
(http://www.who.int/gho/phe/water_sanitation/burden/en/index3.html).
Health costs associated with waterborne diseases such as malaria,
diarrhea, and worm infections represent more than one third of the income
of poor households in sub-Saharan Africa (WHO, 2018).
Unmet health and hygiene goals are one of the many outcomes on account
of poor water access. The Water Gap – The State of the World’s Water
2018 report, recognizes the critical role that water plays in reducing socio-
economic and gender inequalities within communities. Inadequate water
comprises with the safety and security (fear of snake bites, wild animals,
injuries of women and children collecting water from far off distances,
violates dignity of women, inequality in education opportunities increasing
inequalities and exploitation of women (e.g. child marriages for girls).
Table 4 has been compiled from the Global Burden of Disease Study
(GBD), 2016, which monitored progress on the health-related Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) in 188 countries from 1990 to 2016. Countries
with poor water access are chosen from the State of the Water Report 2018
by Water Aid and South Africa has been added in the table as our country of
interest. Columns 2, 3 and 4 are progress scores measured on a scale of 0-
100, attained by the countries between 1990-2016 for indicators – WaSH
(mortality attributable to unsafe water and sanitation), population with
access to safe and improved water sources and population with access to
safe and improved sanitation, respectively. A lower score ranging between
0-50 indicates poor progress on meeting SDG targets for WaSH, Water and
Sanitation indicators.

Table 4: Progress in health-related SDG for countries with poor water
access
Notes: Individual indicators: WaSH mortality; Water; Sanitation are reported on a scale of 0 to
100, with 0 representing the worst levels from 1990-2030 and 100 reflecting the best during
that time. [GBD 2016, SDG collaborators, Lancet 2018, page 1434-1437); Projections until
2030 are calculated based on SDG [Sustainable Development Goals] and MDG (Millennium
Development Goals) progress for each country from 1990-2016;
Definitions: WaSh mortality: mortality attributable to unsafe water, sanitation, and hygiene;
Water: risk-weighted prevalence of populations using unsafe or unimproved water sources, as
measured by the SEV for unsafe water, %; Sanitation: Risk-weighted prevalence of populations
using unsafe or unimproved sanitation, as measured by the SEV for unsafe sanitation, %
Source: Adapted from Global Health Metrics: Figure 1: Performance on the health-related
SDG index, MDG index and non-MDG index, and 37 Individual health-related indicators, by
country, 2016 (GBD 2016 SDG Collaborators, Lancet 2017, page 1434-1437);
Column 5 is the Global health ranking based on these progress scores as
well as 37 other individual health-related indicators of the tabulated
countries as compared to the 188 countries (GBD 2016, SDG collaborators,
Lancet 2018), as included in the GBD study. Countries with poor scores
indicated by columns 2,3,4 end up at the bottom of the list of 188 countries.

From table 4, Somalia, Uganda, Chad, DRC (Democratic Republic of
Congo) are at the bottom end of the rankings.
South Africa ranks 122nd (out of 188 countries) in the Global Health Index,
and on a scale of 0-100, scores 25 points for WaSH , 58 for Water and 60
for Sanitation. The country has shown medium progress between 1990-
2016 in meeting overall health related SDG targets, however, the current
uncertainty due to droughts, if not managed effectively, could seriously
undermine its potential to meet its water-related SDG goals with deleterious
health consequences.
Water crises—from chronic water scarcity to lack of access to adequate
water supply and sanitation to hydrological extremes—can aggravate
challenges related to fragility and conflict (Sadoff et al, 2014, Tortajada et.
al. 2015, 2017). Water security goes beyond water scarcity to take account
not only of a country’s water resource endowment, but also of the
productive and protective actions the country has taken to secure its water
(Beyond Scarcity, World Bank 2018).

Section - Page | II-14
Part II. Water Scarcity and Crimes
Water crimes, could be defined, as any punishable contravention or
violation of the limits on human behavior, as imposed by national criminal
legislation, against surface water and groundwater, or against water
services. (EU, Water crimes project). A first of it kind project to document
water crimes inventory in the European Union, included 86 water-related
crimes (EU, Water Crimes Inventory, Oct 2017), suggesting
countermeasures and mitigation policies for countries such as Hungary,
Italy, Slovenia, Spain, and other EU countries.
According to the EU- Water Crimes Inventory report, water pollution and
water theft constituted 86 per cent of all water related crime cases in
Europe. Crimes related to surface water were reported for 36 per cent of
the cases, whereas 33 per cent were related to water services and 12
percent cases were pertaining to groundwater in Europe. Further, in “47
percent of the cases, the water was intended for human consumption; in 7
per cent it was intended for industrial use and in 6 per cent of cases, water
was intended for agricultural purposes.” [ EU, Water Crimes Inventory, Oct
2017].
In Europe, water corruption posed the highest risk in these countries making
it vulnerable to organized crime groups who often monopolize and control
water supply [Interpol, 2016] and pollute water ways. This is mainly due to
unclear legislation, water scarcity, poverty and waste production. With
climate uncertainty, waste and water scarcity issues are on the rise and so
are the chances of water corruption expected to rise in the next five years,
according to the report.
Gleick (1989) identifies critical concerns due to climatic related risks
influencing water tensions with changes in: (1) water availability from altered
precipitation patterns or evaporative losses due to higher temperatures, (2)
the seasonality of precipitation and runoff, (3) flooding or drought
frequencies, and (4) the demand for and the supply of irrigation water for
agriculture. Fragility and climate change the water stressed areas of North

Africa and Middle East (World Bank, 2018) sets in a vicious cycle of further
violence and scarcity [Sadoff, et al, 2017]. Climatic concerns of water
scarcity and impact of prolonged famines resulting in desertification disrupts
livelihoods of rural communities such as fisheries and agriculture causing
food riots, violent conflicts and massive internal migration. Examples include
Central African Republic, Bangalala midlands (in Tanzania) Chad, Niger,
Mozambique, Uganda, Morocco, Sudan and Eriteria [UNCCD, 2014].
Droughts have led to migration, conflict or cessation in the past, in countries
such as India, Bangladesh, Mauritania, Senegal, Morocco and Eritrea
[UNCCD 2014].
Shared water resources or transboundary water resources are often a fertile
ground for water-related tensions (IPCC 2001, 950). The situation gets out
of government control in conflict-ridden and arid regions, resulting in social
disruptions, migration and losses of life and livelihoods [Sadoff et al 2017).
Thirty-four of the 37 countries affected by desertification and land
degradation triggered due to prolonged droughts are presumed to be at risk
of war due to absence of trans-boundary water resources cooperation
[UNCCD, 2014]. Although regional cooperation exists, such as agreements
between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan regarding the equitable exploitation of
Nile water, the rising issue of water theft has been left to national
governments to form individual responses ( http://globalinitiative.net/water-
smuggling/ ).
In 2016, river use disputes between the Indian states of Karnataka and
Tamil Nadu resulted in rioting in rioting in Karnataka’s capital city of
Bangalore (Reuters, 2016, quoted in Sadoff et al. 2017). In 2013, “a study
by the Water Research Commission estimated losses incurred every month
due to water theft and under maintenance of water infrastructure such as
leaky pipes in water scarce countries like South Africa, to the tune of 1.58
billion kiloliters a year, equivalent of 4.3 million swimming pools or to fill
about a third of the capacity of the Gariep Dam, the largest in South Africa”
(Savides, M, 2013).
El-Nino droughts in Syria and famines in Ethiopia fuels deadly food and
water riots causing large scale devastation of water and sanitation
infrastructure eroding the “social compact” [Sadoff et al, 2017] between
governments and citizens destabilizing peace and security in the nations.

Children are the most affected with high WaSh (Water and Sanitation)
mortality rates impacted by outbreaks of water borne diseases in water
scarce areas, e.g. “cholera outbreak in Yemen in 2016” (Global Burden of
Disease 2016), diarrheal deaths in Nigeria, Somalia and South Sudan in
Africa (https://phys.org/news/2017-03-children-shortages-unicef.html). In
Ethiopia, recurring droughts result in famine, food shortages, and water-
related diseases, as people are forced to rely heavily on contaminated and
stagnant water( https://water.org/our-impact/ethiopia/ ).
A significant rise in water crimes in the last decade is due to the enlarged
water footprints of the urban consumer, lax environmental legislation
perpetuating water pollution causing scarcity of freshwater resources in
water abundant areas, inadequate monitoring and audit to check non-
revenue water in water utilities causing water theft and rampant corruption
at all levels of water service providers. Examples of “water smuggling (such
as, development of illegal pipelines, illegal truck deliveries as well as the
cooptation of water regulators complicit in licensing fraud and broader
government acquiescence to illegal water delivery] and water theft could be
found in California, southern Europe, Nigeria, Kenya, the Middle East, and
South Asia (Vanda Felbab-Brown, 2015).
Water crimes are difficult to estimate. As Jay Bhagwan, executive manager
of water use and waste management at the Water Research Commission in
South Africa points out regarding water theft, “We don’t have an exact
figure… but we estimate that 15% of the losses are due to theft. You get rid
of illegal taps and then, overnight, they’re back again. It’s difficult to police”
(Savides, M., 2013).
Water scarcity due to drought impacts business and economic acitivity and
the City of Cape Town (CCT) is an important example of the case where
“eighteen of the city’s major tourism businesses have suffered a year-on-
year loss of R90 million due to the drought, while visitor-numbers from the
UK, France and the Netherlands have dropped by more than 10% due to
crime” (https://www.iol.co.za/capeargus/news/drought-and-crime-reduce-
tourism-in-city-14392617). Crime rate has worsened during the ongoing
drought with mandatory water restrictions put in place since February 2018.
This has led to the deployment of “ world’s first water police” force
(https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/cape-town-worlds-first-water-

police/) to tackle illegal water thefts, misuse and wastage of municipal water
supplies.

Section - Page | III-18
Part III. Water Governance in South Africa
Water resources in South Africa is made up of its “ecological infrastructure”
– consisting of surface water, that is, its rivers and lakes and all subsurface
and underground water stored in its aquifers, in soil, rock pores and
crevices [WWF2016].. The average rainfall of about 450mm/year compared
Figure 5: Drought-affected areas map. Source: National Integrated Drought Monitoring,
Department of Water and Sanitation, Republic of South Africa.
to the world average of 860 mm/year (WWF-2016, World Bank,2017).makes
South Africa one of the 30 driest countries in the world (Wegelin WA et al,
2017). Some of the current challenges hindering water security has been
highlighted below. The context of Cape Town city is deliberate in order to
address the current drought situation. The section ends with the Singapore
city-state’s best practices in water management, focusing on strategies
around effective water demand management and water supply governance.
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Durban
Bhisho
Pretoria
Upington
Nelspruit
Cape Town
Kimberley
Polokwane
Ekurhuleni
East London
Bloemfontein
Port Elizabeth
Pietermaritzburg
Johannesburg
Legend
! Major Towns
Province
Local Municipalities
Moderate Drought
Severe Drought
Extreme Drought
12 Month - SPI Drought - December 2017
Moderate Severe Extreme Total Settlements
EC 1491 139 210 1840 9076
FS 8 0 0 8 321
GT 0 0 0 0 2579
KZN 133 0 0 133 3620
LP 70 0 0 70 2692
MP 0 0 0 0 773
NW 0 0 0 0 1299
NC 5 21 23 49 545
WC 76 206 1048 1330 1597
TOTAL 1783 366 1281 3430 22502
3430 of 22502 Settlements affected by drought

Section 3.01 Undiversified water supply
15 billion cubic meters (98%) of the surface water is currently allocated
[WWF - SA, 2016] to meet irrigation needs for agriculture [60%], industrial
activities [5%], power generation [2.5%], and for municipal demand from
urban centers. This is met from “ an integrated system of large dams and
inter-basin transfers” [World Bank, 2017]. By 2030, water demand is
estimated to be 17.7 billion cubic meters [m3] [WWF-SA, 2016; Madden
2015] due to rising population levels [WWF-SA, 2016; Madden 2015] and
surge in economic activity.
South Africa shares four of its river basins with other states in the South
African Development Community (SADC). The variation in the annual and
seasonal flows of these rivers is determined entirely by climatic conditions
[Heyns, P. 2003, WWF-SA 2016] making water allocation between the
riparian states during droughts a major challenge.
River basins in South Africa Shared with other Basin States
Incomati & Maputo Mozambique, Swaziland
Limpopo Mozambique, Botswana and Zimbabwe
Orange Botswana, Lesotho and Namibia
Source: Adapted from Heyns P. (2003), Chapter 1: Water-resources management in Southern
Africa
The reliance on surface water alone, has proved costly for South Africa,
particularly for the southern and western regions (Drought - affected areas
map: Figure 5), including Cape Town, where a national drought disaster is
waiting to inflict impending doom on 4 million of the population of the port
city [Reuters, 2018]. Dam storage in South Africa is completely reliant on
rainfall and a decreasing trend (Figure 6) in monthly winter rainfall (between
600-800 mm in 2016) has negatively impacted water storage levels. The
potential of groundwater development has been largely limited and its usage
is unregulated and hence not measured. The non-potable groundwater in
Cape Town, for example, is used mainly for garden irrigation (Jacobs et al.,

2011] by private home-owners who bear the initial expense to install,
operate and maintain a garden borehole or well point [Wright T. et al, 2016].
Water storage in its six major dams
2
stood at record lows (See Table 5), as
Cape Town, prepares to face stringent water rationing under mandatory
Figure 6: Monthly Rainfall and Dam Storage.
Source: National Integrated Drought Monitoring, Department of Water and Sanitation ,
Republic of South Africa
water restrictions imposed by the Department of Water and Sanitation
(DWS) on various municipalities throughout the region to lower its water
demand .
2
“The capacity of the 6 dams is approximately 900 million m3 (Mm3). The
unconstrained system allocation is ~570 Mm3 which provides an unconstrained daily
demand of nearly 1,350 MLD to the supply system which includes CCT (City of
Cape Town), agriculture and other urban areas. With current restrictions, this has
been limited to an annual daily combined average of 680 MLD” (Department of
Water & Sanitation, April 2018, page 1)

Table 5: Cape Town River System State of Dams on 2018-04-23
Dams
Full
Storage
Capacity in
million
cubic
meters
This
Week
(%)
Last
Week
(%)
Last
Year
(%)
Berg River Dam 127.1 36.2 40.5 31.9
Steenbras Dam-Lower 33.9 36.7 38.3 30.2
Steenbras Dam-Upper 31.9 62.9 68.4 51.7
Theewaterskloof Dam 479.3 10.1 10.1 17.7
Voelvlei Dam 158.6 13.7 13.8 19.9
Wemmershoek Dam 58.8 44.9 44.3 36.2
Total 889.3 19.7 20.5 23
Source: Department: Water and Sanitation, Republic of South Africa: Retrieved online
http://www.dwa.gov.za/Hydrology/Weekly/RiverSystems.aspx?river=CT
The current restriction level is 6B, requiring savings of 45%. For
nonresidential customers monthly consumption needs to be reduced by
45% of unconstrained demand while individuals are restricted to 50 litres
per capita per day (lcd) and households to 6 kilolitres (kl) per month”
(Department of Water & Sanitation,CCT,April 2018). On April 13, 2018, the
DWS (Department of Water & Sanitation) , “based on consumption
scenarios, the Day Zero dam level was projected at 13.5% beyond July
2018, which would provide 3 months’ worth of water at a reduced volume
“supplied of 350MLD” (Department of Water & Sanitation, April 2018, page
1)

Section 3.02 Unsustainable water demand and management
Figure 6: Per capita water consumption in SA in 2015-16
Source: Department of Water and Sanitation, as quoted in
https://africacheck.org/reports/south-africans-guzzle-235-litres-water-per-day/
Note: The per capita numbers quoted in Figure 6 are for 2015/2016.
Table 6: Water Demand in Cape Town
(Source: DWS: Annexure A: New Water Programme, The Water Outlook, 2018,
page1)
At an average water use efficiency, defined as per capita water
consumption per day, of 237 ℓ/c/d and 234 ℓ/c/d for the Provinces and the
WSA (Water Services Authority) [Wegelin WA et al, July 2017], water
demand in the region is quite high. The provinces - Guateng, Kwazulu-Natal
and Western Cape constitute 66 per cent of the total water demand day
[Wegelin WA et al, July 2017]. Cape town reduced its average water
demand by 700 million liters on average per day between 2015 to Feb 2018.

Water Demand in Cape Town
Average water demand
Month &Year Million litres per day
Feb-15 1200
Feb-16/17 900
Feb-18 500

The Department of Water and Sanitation in South Africa recommends a
reduction of its per capita water consumption below 200 liters/person/day
and align with international benchmarks of 180 liters per capita per day
[Wegelin WA et al, July 2017]. Note that liters per capita per day, refers to
usage for residential, industrial and commercial purposes, and ignores
agriculture. Controlling residential water demand is an important outcome
of any successful water conservation strategy. For example, water stressed
Singapore has, over the years, used demand management strategies to
make the city –state drought resilient in the long run, influencing a reduction
in residential water use per capita from 163 liters per capita per day to the
current 140 liters per capita per day.
Non-revenue water: Water stress is accentuated due to a debilitating
physical water infrastructure causing water leaks and water losses from the
system. “Water losses for all municipalities, indicate water losses of 1414.49
million m3 /a (35.9%) and NRW (Non-revenue water) of 1632.93 million m3
/a (41.0%) from the 2015/16 water balance” [Wegelin WA et al. July 2017].
Free basic water (6 kilo liters per household per month) and electricity
service (50 kwh of electricity per household per month) is provided to
identified poor consumers, known as indigent households, billed at zero
rates. In 2016, 58% (9 million out of 15 million households) of indigent
households received free water service. As per estimates by the NFCM
(Non-Financial Census of Municipalities], indigent consumer units
3
receiving
free basic water service of rose by 4.2% in 2016 (NFCM,2017) compared to
2015 requiring an urgent need to plug non-revenue water and water losses
from the water supply system.
While South Africa reels under the current drought learnings from the
Millennium Drought in Australia offers some priceless insights into water
demand strategies and supply planning during drought (See Web links on
Managing Drought: Learning from Australia”- Turner et al 2016). After all, a
drought can be “both a crisis and an opportunity to innovate- to roll out new
water savings initiatives and incentives to scale, and to leverage community
and political will to make needed policy and regulatory changes”.[Turner et
al, 2016].
3
Consumer units not equal to households (NFCM, 2017)

Political will is a key driver of significant investments made during drought
crisis in the short run and effective water resource management for
maintaining water security in the long run. Water resource management in
Singapore is a classic case in point.
Section 3.03 Water security: Best Practice
Case of Urban Water Governance in Singapore
With a population of 5 million and no natural water resources to call its own,
the water stressed state of Singapore is an exemplar model of water
security. The PUB (Public Utilities Board) is the central planning and
implementation organization of the entire gamut of institutional, allocation,
monitoring and management mechanisms pertaining to water and drainage
system of the city-state.
Source: PUB (Public Utilities Board), https://www.pub.gov.sg/PublishingImages/Waterloop.png

Successful strategies deployed by Singapore include,
a) Diversification of the water supply portfolio:
The four national taps are: 1. Imported water from Malaysia 2. Rainwater 3.
Recycled water 4. Desalinated water
1. Rainwater: Collect every drop (PUB, 2018): Expansion of catchment
areas to one-third of all land area to replenish its water reservoirs.
(Tortajada, C. and Buurman J, 2017). Rainfall accounts 10 per cent
of water supply to the city-state (Lee T.K. and Tortajada C., 2018)
Introduce storm water management strategies to include Low
Impact Design (LID) design principles such as green roofs, rain
gardens in buildings to treat storm water for water quality
improvement at source (Lim H. S. and Lu X. X., 2016).
2. Recycled water: Reuse water endlessly (PUB, 2018): “NEWater is a
local term for high quality recycled treated waste water. It is
supplied both for direct non-potable use (DNPU) to commercial and
manufacturing processes that require water and for cooling, and for
indirect potable use (IPU) by introducing water into reservoirs for
subsequent retreatment at the several water works for drinking
purposes” (Tortajada C and Joshi Y., 2013). “Presently, Singapore's
five NEWater plants can meet up to 40% of the nation’s current
water needs. By 2060, NEWater is expected to meet up to 55% of
Singapore’s future water demand”
(https://www.pub.gov.sg/watersupply/singaporewaterstory )
3. Desalinated water (PUB 2018): “Singapore currently uses reverse
osmosis for its desalination, which uses about 3.5kWh/m3. There
are currently two desalination plants supplying 25% of current water
demand in Singapore source. Three more desalination plants are
expected to meet up to 30 per cent of Singapore’s water needs by
2060.”
https://www.pub.gov.sg/watersupply/fournationaltaps/desalinatedwa
ter )
4. Imported water (PUB, 2018): Under the 1962 water agreement
between Singapore and Malaysia, Singapore can draw up to

1.1billion litres (250 gallons) of water from the Johor river in
Malaysia until 2061.
b) Water demand management:
Increase in residential water prices in a phased manner (a 30% hike phased
over 2 years; the second phase of the price rise is on July 2018) for
infrastructure repair and update, water conservation tax to discourage water
wastage
Stepping up of water conservation efforts in industry- Water Efficiency Index
to identify sectors and operations that use the most water (Tortajada, C. et
al 2013, Lee T.K. and Tortajada C., 2018) , public outreach and education
programmes, provision of water saving kits etc.
c) Non-Revenue water management
Non-revenue water or water loss at 4.6% is the lowest in the world.
Monitoring got smart with the usage of water sensors – data sondes –
developed by US-based water tech firm Xylem that report pressure
irregularities and other key factors into analytics software to be sent to a
central command center by text message and apps (Balch, O 2015)
Outcome “Singapore's per capita household water consumption was
reduced from 165 liters per day in 2003 to 143 liters in 2017. The target is to
lower it to 140 liters by 2030” (PUB 2018).
The path ahead: High capital investments in desalination and NEWater
sources to meet water demand diversifies water supply sources and adds
resilience during dry spells and droughts (PUB, Financial Report
2013/2014). Desalination and used water treatment are energy-intensive
and in order to reduce its carbon footprint, PUB has leveraged on massive
investments in research and development for energy efficient technologies.

Section - Page | IV-27
Part IV. The Way Forward
The ongoing drought in CCT has changed its residents’ relationship with
water. While the city scrambles to augment its water supply from its
groundwater aquifers, shutting down irrigation supplies, increase in water
tarrifs, mandatory rationing of water consumption and policing of water
wastage for all its residents, the government officials realize the need for a
paradigm shift in water management. “The security of water resources
necessitates a departure from the status quo, to an innovative system that is
able to understand and appreciate how different natural, policy, and political
variables interact and affect each other” (Tortajada and Fernandez,2018).
Distilling some of the best practices in drought management and water
governance practices from Singapore, Australia, California and European
cases, the report through a global perspective on water scarcity hints at the
urgency to address drought monitoring and preparedness into all short run
and long run water management policies to restore water security in the City
of Cape Town. “One of the cornerstones of proactive drought management
is the establishment of a drought policy and a drought management plan
which should address the whole drought management cycle (monitoring–
impact assessment–response–recovery–preparedness) and help to improve
decision-making processes in drought management” (Bokal S. et. al. 2018)
In the short run while water conservation and nudging citizens to consume
less water remains a proven successful water demand management
strategy in countries like Singapore, Australia and California; the current
drought in CCT has brought into light the perils of relying on a single “tap”
(surface water from reservoirs) for water supply - which is entirely
dependent on rainfall. The time is ripe to incorporate a diverse water
portfolio to augment water supply by reusing wastewater, desalination and
groundwater effectively for meeting municipal water demand. Best practices
illustrate that this could be effectively implemented, by implementing
innovations in desalination and waste water technologies that minimize
energy usage and effluent discharges, integrating leak detection technology
in the water supply network and regular, timely maintenance of water
infrastructure and involving stakeholder participation at all levels –
agriculture, industry, rural as well as urban consumer in water conservation.

Appendix 4.1: Web-sources and Links to Drought Management
practices:
Publication/Source
name and link
Summary and Link
Integrated Drought
Management in
Central and Eastern
Europe:
Compendium of
Good Practices.
Link:
https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/reso
urces/idmp-cee_compendium_en.pdf
Summary:
This Compendium is the final publication of the
first phase of the GWP/WMO Integrated
Drought Management Programme in Central
and Eastern Europe (hereafter IDMP CEE). It
provides an overview of the programme’
outputs and accomplishments achieved in the
period from 2013 to 2015.The Programme’s
main goal is to increase the capacity of the
CEE region to adapt to climatic variability by
enhancing resilience to drought.
Cambareri, Grace,
“Robust Drought
Planning in
Megacities: A Case
Study in Sao Paulo,
Brazil”.
Link
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/cgi/viewco
ntent.cgi?article=1083&context=cee_ewre
Abstract: The megacity of São Paulo, Brazil
recently faced a severe three-year drought
(2013- 2015) that highlighted the challenges of
growing water demands, unpredictability of
future supply, and proper communication with
the public during crisis. Given the poor
outcomes of the recent drought, the question
remains as to how the drought can be used to
inform and improve future drought
preparedness. This study develops a seven-
step framework using simulation and a

computational search to identify promising
drought plans based on the historic record.
These promising plans are then tested under
alternative states of the world to explore their
robustness and identify regions of vulnerability.
While the resulting drought plans are
dependent on many assumptions regarding
system operations, performance preferences,
and future conditions, the process can be used
by managers with knowledge of the system in
collaboration with stakeholders to identify
drought plans that will result in better
outcomes.
Andrea Turner,
Stuart White, Joanne
Chong, Mary Ann
Dickinson,
Heather Cooley, and
Kristina Donnelly,
“Managing Drought:
Learning from
Australia.”
http://pacinst.org/wp-
content/uploads/2016/07/Managing-
Drought-Report-2016-02-23-FINAL-US-
Letter.pdf
“The impact of the Australian Millennium
Drought on urban water supplies varied widely
across the country due to differing climates,
water supply systems and policy responses.
Different stakeholders also experienced the
drought in different ways. This summary, and
the background material on which it is based,
represent one interpretation of the drought and
responses to it. It is an interpretation that is
informed by significant engagement with
utilities and governments throughout that
period, and a close working knowledge of the
relevant water systems and policy
environments.”

Section - Page | V-30
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