Research Projects for 2008/2009

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Programme 1: Catchment data and information systems

This programme will support the provisions of Chapter 14 of the National Water Act, especially Part 2: National Information Systems on Water Resources. This programme is focused on supporting the national initiative for improving the available water resource information, better management of the information and improved information dissemination to stakeholders. It will establish direct linkages to the national information systems as well as identifying and resolving water resource information gaps. In this programme researched water resource information will be integrated into the national information system that is being established by DWAF. The programme will also support the process of decentralizing identified water resource data and information from broader national perspectives to detailed and highly resolved local and catchment scales.

Programme 2: Surface water / groundwater hydrology

This programme focuses on developing and utilizing integrated hydrological approaches in surface and groundwater assessments, water resource explorations, planning and management. It will take advantage of gains made in improved understanding of groundwater and surface water hydrological processes as well as the availability of better hydrological data especially the various forms of more accurate remotely sensed data with better coverage. Through this programme, strategic partnerships with international expertise in both groundwater and surface water hydrological research will be encouraged to flourish. Hydrological tools that have been developed in the past are expected to be upgraded, redeveloped or replaced by tools that are more suited to the current data availability, the improved knowledge and the recent technological advances in hydrological modelling.

Programme 3: Water resource planning

This programme will address water resource planning for the purposes of improved water allocation, better management of water use activities and to ensure secure, sustainable and adequate national water resources. It is also focused on the development of tools that will address planning gaps such as the absence of reliable information in ungauged areas and the persistent record gaps which exist in present data sets. The programme will promote a deliberate shift towards the development of water systems plans that will benefit from real time, historic and stochastic data on a countrywide basis. Impacts of climate change on water resources and the planning processes will be accounted for so as to ensure a proactive approach and allowing for national preparedness. Integration will also be achieved through aligning this programme to wider national water resource planning needs which have to account for other factors such as national strategic importance, poverty alleviation, economic benefit, empowerment and the importance of meeting the Millennium Development Goals.

Programme 4: Water resource development

This programme will improve the understanding of national needs for water resource development, existing water resource infrastructure maintenance and rehabilitation. The equitable allocation and access challenges and economic growth target of 6% of GDP per year will require thorough understanding and assessments of alternative sources of water. Such sources could be built into future projections for new water, virtual water, water transfers be they national or international, desalinization, etc. The programme will also promote the integration of social, economic, and environmental considerations as key components of sustainable water resource development. Effort will be applied to the development of solutions for supporting and complimenting the processes and strategies pursued by the Water Infrastructure Agency.

Programme 5: Climate change and hydroclimatic variability

The goal of this programme is to better forecast the variability of rainfall, flow and groundwater recharge. The ability to forecast at very short time scales (48 hours down to a few hours ahead) would greatly benefit flood management and disaster mitigation activities. At longer time scales (e.g. inter-annual or seasonal scales) the ability would greatly assist decisions concerning seasonal water allocation to various users and the environment. Forecasting models range from the empirical (based on statistical relationships which use various oceanic and atmospheric predictors) to the mechanistic (based on the use of dynamic models encapsulating best understanding of influential atmospheric and oceanic processes). This programme will also seek to improve the understanding of climate change for the purposes of better informing the nation on permanent changes of the climate which require long-term solutions and mitigation. Through this programme support will be provided for weather and climate disaster mitigation programmes at various levels which will include regional, national, provincial as well as other more localised scales.

Programme 6: Water resource quality management

The quality of water is an important factor in determining the quantity of water that is potentially available for productive use. Determining the amount of water available for different uses is further complicated by the considerable variation that exists in quality requirements between and within different user groups. This programme is aimed at developing and refining fitness-for-use criteria, developing the means to monitor and assess water quality at regional and national levels, improving the manner in which water quality information is conveyed and the identification of emerging water quality issues. The programme also seeks to investigate and apply water quality control and mitigation measures.