Water Protection and Management

National Perspective in South Africa

South Africa's available freshwater resources are already almost fully-utilised and under stress. At the projected population growth and economic development rates, it is unlikely that the projected demand on water resources in South Africa will be sustainable. Water is increasingly becoming the limiting resource and supply will become a major restriction to the future socio-economic development of the country, in terms of both quantity and quality. At present many water resources are polluted by industrial effluents, domestic and commercial sewage, acid mine drainage, agricultural runoff and litter.

To augment supplies, South Africa is looking towards water sources in other southern African countries (e.g. Lesotho) to assist in providing sufficient water for projected future demands. However, the risks of international dependency on such a priority resource are high. Other possible sources of water, such as desalinisation of seawater and water from icebergs, may be potential options in the long-term, although currently too expensive to exploit. It is imperative that South Africa develops into a water-efficient economy together with a social ethic of water conservation and ultimately a culture of sustainability of water resource use.

(Extract from the National State of Environment Report - South Africa, Freshwater Systems and Resources, Authors: Walmsley Dr R D, Walmsley J J, Mzuri Consultants, Silberbauer M, Department of Water Affairs and Forestry)

Lahti-BPDM Water Conservation and Management Cooperation

Implemented Measures:

Water Symposium
Peer reviews
Expertise exchange visits
Bospoort Dam Business Plan
Water monitoring cooperation
Technical transfer
Staff training
Student exchange

Expertise Exchange is aiding Rehabilitation of Bospoort and Hartbeespoort Dams

Bospoort Dam falls under the Rustenburg Local Municipality which is one of five local municipalities under the Bojanala Platinum District Municipality (BPDM). In the development strategies of BPDM and Royal Bafokeng Nation, Bospoort Dam is targeted for recreation, housing, fishing and tourism. However, the extensive growth in population has resulted in an increased pressure on the dam and loading from different sources such as sewage from formal and informal settlements, agriculture and industry has lead into deterioration of water quality.

The City of Lahti has an extensive knowledge on lake rehabilitation through the successful long-term rehabilitation process of the Lake Vesijärvi. Due to these skills, the rehabilitation of Bospoort Dam was identified as one of the key cooperation areas. Expert exchange, whereby officials from both municipalities have learned from each other, has been a part of the programme. The lessons learned in Lahti have been shared and the lake rehabilitation model and technical know-how brought to the Bospoort Dam rehabilitation process.

The lake rehabilitation model developed in Lahti is also being used as a reference in the rehabilitation process of the Hartbeespoort Dam which is one of the biggest dams of the North West Province. It is intended that the model developed through this partnership will also be used in other municipalities of South Africa.

Progress in 2006-2007

Peer Review Activities

A peer review on BPDM water management administration, policy and practices was conducted by the officials from the City of Lahti, Lahti Region Environmental Service in October 2006. The review provided feedback on surface and groundwater in a format of SWOT analysis and recommendation were made on the following aspects:

a) Sufficiency of water resources and integrated water resource management
b) Efficiency of BPDM’s water management administration
c) Eutrophication and pollution control
d) Monitoring and laboratory services
e) Communication and dissemination

A positive outcome of this Peer Review was the recommendation to get a portable water monitoring system for the Moses Kotane Local Municipality. The portable water monitoring system was then implemented through the cooperation and has proven to be a valuable “early warning system” for detecting the ground water pollution in the rural villages.

Water Monitoring

Since the transfer of the portable water testing laboratory from Lahti to BPDM, Moses Kotane LM (under the jurisdiction of BPDM) has been able to independently test their ground water. BPDM has partnered with the local water serving authority Magalies Water Board to give further training to the relevant personnel at the Moses Kotane. The co-operation has created a platform also for the other local municipalities to observe the importance of independent water monitoring and become pro-active in case of water contamination. Water monitoring upgrading and staff training have since continued from North to South by the transfer of new portable field laboratory devices through the cooperation programme.

Water Symposium

In 2006, a Water Symposium was organised with the theme of ‘Developing Local Responsibility on Water System Management’. The purpose was to present some good practices in water conservation from South Africa as well as from Finland, share information and to look at local and international challenges regarding water conservation. All levels of government, private sector and NGOs and community representatives were present as important role players within water and sanitation sector. The water pollution issues of Bospoort and Hartbeespoort Dams were discussed in detail. Some concrete recommendation were also put forward, e.g. the introduction of dry toilet, which is a relatively new concept in South Africa and needed to be piloted and tested with the communities.

During the Water Symposium, it was agreed by all the stakeholders and participants that an integrated approach was needed to decrease the pollution in the water. Therefore the National Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF) together with the Provincial (North West) Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Environment and with the BPDM agreed to develop a project proposal under the title of "Integrated Water Resource Management Programme".

Progress in 2008:

Water Monitoring Cooperation Continues

The monitoring of external loading of Bospoort Dam was conducted in order to detect the main point sources and to determine the loading capacity of the Dam. The sampling and hydrological observations were carried out jointly by Mr. Bhikhu Kanjee and Mr. Juha Keto.

EU-funding Opportunities Investigated

Options for European Union EPRD funding were investigated for the Hartbeespoort Dam rehabilitation process as well as its satellite projects. Apparently EU has already committed 107 million euro for the water projects in South Africa through the Department of Water Affairs (Masibambane programme) from 2008 to 2012. The responsible official, Mr. Charles Reeve from the European delegation agreed to look at the Hartbeespoort Dam programme closer to see how they could best earmark funds from the existing 107 million Euros.

Progress in 2009:

Planning of an Environmental Information Centre

A delegation from BPDM visited the Sustainable Development and Consumption Centre of Lahti and the Environmental Information and Communication Centre of Vodokanal, St. Petersburg in June 2009. The delegation consisted of representatives from Department of Water Affairs and Environment, Royal Bafokeng Nation and South African Local Government Association (SALGA). The delegation was determined to develop an Environmental Information and Sustainable Development Centre for BPDM. The planning of this centre is underway.

Student Exchange

Related to the cooperation, an advanced automatic monitoring station was shipped from Finland to Hartbeespoort Dam along with three student trainees from Lahti University of Applied Sciences who helped to install and calibrate the instrument. The students also conducted monitoring at the Hartbeespoort and the Bospoort Dam in the summer 2009.