South Africa: Water resources study to get under way in April
7 March 2012
Creamer Media's Engineering News - March 7, 2012
South Africa’s Water Research Commission (WRC) is moving ahead with a comprehensive new study of the country’s water resources, including its groundwater resources, in a bid to update the existing database and baselines, which were last assessed in 2005.
The WRC has also confirmed a plan to shorten the intervals between updates from ten to four years, acknowledging that the current interval period is inappropriate for a water-stressed country such as South Africa, where the demand on the existing resources is growing strongly.
This is in line with recommendations made in the National Planning Commission’s ‘National Development Plan’, which argues that regular monitoring is required to ensure effective supply planning, development and operation.
The shortened intervals are also better aligned with the statutory requirement for the production of a water resources strategy every five years.
Known as ‘Water Resources of South Africa 2012’, or WR2012, the study will begin on April 1 and will be accompanied by an interactive Web-based reporting system to enable the WRC to continually quantify both surface and groundwater resources.
Category: Water