Climate risk management options in the water sector
Date
2012-03-05
Authors
Pema, Kavita
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Abstract
Existing water management initiatives, strategies and policies in South Africa, ranging from
the overarching water management legislative framework to the local-level practical
operational aspects, were examined as a component of this project. The integration
between National Strategies pertaining to water resource management and local
implementation was addressed in terms of examining Water Conservation and Demand
Management approaches and assessing the effectiveness of these approaches in
addressing climate change risk factors in the water sector.
Current South African regulatory instruments in the water sector allow adaptation and
flexibility in order to address climate change impacts on the water resources in South
Africa. The greatest obstacle in the implementation of effective Integrated Water Resource
Management (IWRM) for climate change adaptation strategies is the lack of institutional
support required from national levels of government to local municipalities. There is also a
lack of strategic guidance and support in the form of policies specific to climate risk in the
water sector in South Africa. Another important aspect of the IWRM, namely social learning,
also suffers in the process due to lack of participation from key stakeholders and limited
integration amongst interdependent sectors.
Description
M.Sc., Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, 2011
Keywords
Environmental sciences, Environmental risk assessment, Ecology