L Hendricks: Fifth World Water Forum

21 March 2009

Ministers
Panel members
Ladies and gentlemen

Good Morning. In order to set the scene for the Roundtable discussion this
morning, I am going to use this opportunity to make reference to our
experiences and the work we have done in South Africa on the formulation of our
Water for Growth and Development Strategy.

We are currently managing a cross-sectoral approach to water management in
South Africa through our Water for Growth and Development framework. This
framework represents my government's commitment to water security for the
people, the economy, and the environment. Through the framework emphasis is
being placed on the life sustaining importance of water as a scarce resource
and to focus the attention on the fact that, unless the continuous judicious
use and effective management of our water resources is taken on board by every
stakeholder, water availability could become a constraint on growth and
development in the future.

South Africa's water management policies and legislation provide for
participative water governance and through our established water management and
water services institutions powers and responsibilities will be delegated to
relevant levels. Although many of these institutions have already been
established, the process of their establishment and shared water management by
(and in conjunction with these institutions) is complex.

South Africa is classified amongst the driest countries by world standards.
We have to therefore ensuring that the water we have is protected from
pollution, is conserved and used efficiently. This requires the careful
management of this valuable resource so that we are able to ensure universal
access to basic water services to every citizen (this is a basic human right in
terms of our Constitution) whilst also meeting the needs of economic growth in
a way that does not threaten the environmental integrity of our water
resources. We constantly have to balance the increasing and competing demands
on the country's limited water resources, ever mindful of the fact that water
for social development, economic growth and environmental sustainability are
all equally important for the success and prosperity.

We see water Security as the key to unlocking our growth potential and is
therefore absolutely necessary for development, and indeed, the dangers of not
managing our water resources has the potential to retard our development. We
are also very mindful of our vulnerability to the potential impact of climatic
change.

Our Water for Growth and Development Framework is the result of two years of
consultations with key players in the water sector. It is an initiative which
has been considered and approved by our Cabinet and we are currently engaging
in an extensive consultation process with all stakeholders involved in the
water sector regarding the implementation of the recommendations emanating from
this Framework. The process of developing the framework has forced both
government and the water sector partners to confront some hard truths about
challenges in the sector; it has also provided a platform for us to continue to
engage in seeking appropriate long-term solutions to respond to these
challenges.

We see this framework is a ground breaking initiative that will set in
motion a course of action to ensure that there is sufficient water, in both
qualitative and quantitative terms, to support South Africa's growth trajectory
and development. We have to ensure that there is sufficient water available for
us to achieve our economic growth targets. At the same time we need to ensure
that we meet our 2014 target for universal access to water and basic
sanitation.

Needless to say, that these goals have to be achieved in a way that we do
not compromise the ecological sustainability of the resource. Having said this,
we do realise that we are going to have to make some very difficult and bold
decisions in the way we harness and allocate our available resources which will
have to be very different to the way we have done this in the past. Through the
Water for Growth and Development Framework, we will pursue a course of action
that will ensure that in future, informed decisions and trade-offs with regard
to water use are taken in support of any cross-sectoral planning and
development initiatives.

Our water availability and quality has been negatively affected by illegal
abstraction, water pollution and the poor management of water resources
infrastructure. We are therefore exploring the most cost-effective and
appropriate options to augment the country's water supply as complementary
alternatives to the traditional but expensive augmentation schemes such as the
construction of dams and inter-basin water transfers. These alternatives
include water loss control, water conservation and demand management, effluent
re-use or effluent recycling, desalination for coastal locations and
groundwater abstraction.

We are engaging extensively and intensively with water sector users in order
to: (i) ensure the mainstreaming of water use requirements in our critical
sectoral planning decisions
(ii) effecting a change in water use behaviour among those who negatively
affect our water resources
(iii) the setting of targets per water use sector
(iv) implementing a mix of mechanisms to effect these changes which will
include regulatory and market-based instruments, self-regulation, awareness and
education.

I will now briefly make reference to the seven key recommendations contained
in the framework as well as some of the actions which will be taken.

Strengthening institutional capacity

We have embarked on a process of institutional establishment and
re-alignment to ensure that the Catchments Management Agencies are able to
fulfil the critical water resource management functions at a basin level.

Mainstreaming water

Water must be placed at the heart of all development planning decisions, to
ensure that any decisions taken that rely on the steady water supply both from
a quantitative and qualitative point of view are adequately factored into water
availability.

Diversifying the water mix

The diversification of our current water mix is important in terms of having
greater flexibility in providing for future water needs. Currently our water
availability is based on surface water (77%), return flows (14%) and
groundwater (9%). Through our assessment studies (referred to as Reconciliation
Strategies) where we reconcile supply and demand for both water scarce areas as
well as those experiencing high levels of demand, we have identified that
desalination and effluent re-use must be included in our water mix. Such a mix
will depend on the most affordable and appropriate source, as well as the
volume of water required. The desalination of seawater for limited productive
uses in coastal locations is considered highly feasible.

Striking a balance between supply and demand-side measures

It is our intention to give priority to the establishment of a Water Demand
Funding Facilitation Unit to provide support to municipalities in their effort
to expand water conservation and demand management. One of the key challenges
to sustained and healthy water supplies is the poor maintenance of Waste-Water
Treatment Works (WWTW). Recommendations are made with regard to the possible
restructuring of the Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) so that a greater
proportion of the budget is used for the purposes of WWTW rehabilitation and
construction.

Addressing service backlogs

While we have made much progress and are still very confident that we will
achieve our 2014 target for universal access to water and sanitation services,
we are looking at other options in terms of dealing with the water service
backlogs which could include rainwater harvesting as well as the further
exploitation of groundwater sources.

Changing water use behaviour for the future

Two very concerning sets of behaviours have been identified which we will be
dealing with. The first is the unlawful and damaging extraction from and
pollution of some of our rivers and secondly, the extents of water use
inefficiencies within the commercial irrigated agriculture sector. In this
regard we are considering other interventions such as water allocation reform,
water-trading regulation and the promotion of techniques to enhance water use
efficiency by the agricultural sector.

Nurturing attitudinal and behavioural changes towards the value of water

Also of importance is the value of awareness-raising campaigns. We are in
the process of conceptualising and launching a massive national awareness
campaign, which will aim to instil a sense of appreciation of the value of
water among all of our citizens.

In bringing my input to a conclusion, let me stress ladies and gentlemen
that water is a shared responsibility. We have to make water everybody's
business. We need to strengthen multi-stakeholder dialogues on the security and
the utilisation of our water to achieve balanced and sustainable socio-economic
development.

In this regard, practical actions would include:
*increased research on improved appropriate technology to deal with various
challenges (water quality, storage, access, recycling etc)
* financing of the various initiatives to improve water availability and
quality
* skills development and knowledge management
* institutional development and support

Finally, we do understand that there is no single solution to remedy the
growing water stress and rainfall unreliability which will be exacerbated by
the impact of climate change. Our Water for Growth and Development Framework
addresses these key issues, it is a framework that maps a course of action to
ensure that the central role of water is promoted as a cross-sectoral input
that supports social development, economic growth and ecological
sustainability.

I thank you.

Issued by: Department of Water Affairs and Forestry
21 March 2009
Source: Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (http://www.dwaf.gov.za)