Africa-Press – South-Africa. As climate change worsens, groundwater will become more critical and be looked at as an alternative water source in South Africa.
This was according to Water and Sanitation Minister Senzo Mchunu, who briefed the media on Tuesday on World Water Day.
The minister devoted a large portion of his speech to groundwater as one of the alternatives that will alleviate pending water availability challenges in the future.
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“South Africa is a water-scarce country, ranking as the 30th driest country in the world and we receive summer rainfall (November to March), with the exception of the Western Cape and parts of Eastern and Northern Cape (May to August) that receive winter rainfall,” Mchunu said.
“Studies predict that by 2025, the region will have insufficient water supplies to meet human and ecosystem needs, resulting in increased competition for scarce resources, constrained economic development and declining human health.
He said:
The minister explained that since surface waters in South Africa were fully allocated, the country’s needs have had to be supplemented by international transfers from the Lesotho Highland Water Transfer Scheme.
However, with the increase in water demand, the Department of Water and Sanitation has committed to exploring groundwater as an alternative water source. The minister said that was being done to ensure water security in communities affected by water supply challenges in South Africa.
Mchunu said the country had gradually increased its groundwater use through the groundwater development scheme.
“There is an increasing trend for individual community members to drill boreholes for self-supply in response to water supply challenges. The rapid rate at which this is happening shows how resilient and critical the groundwater resource is,” he added.
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“Groundwater plays an important role in ensuring there is water security in South Africa, including contributing approximately 13% of the national total water supply in addition to providing up to 100% of water supply to some areas. It is thus a resource of strategic importance.
“Climate change and increased demand for water across multiple sectors have already impacted surface water storage throughout Southern Africa.”
While Mchunu noted that there was an abundance of research and knowledge of groundwater, he said a major challenge that needed to be addressed was the translation of science into policy so that “the technical outputs of the project [will] have an impact at both national and regional level”.
He added:
Water expert Professor Mike Muller told News24 there was adequate water available in South Africa for the next two decades, but the issue was funding to build infrastructure to bring it to communities where it was needed.
He said the country had around five to 10 times more surface water than groundwater.
However, Muller said groundwater could be an alternative for communities that do not have surface water sources nearby.
Muller said South Africa should look at groundwater and use it where available but added that the country would always largely depend on surface water.
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