Cooperation with South Africa

South Africa is a Water Scarce country with an uneven distribution of rainfall across the country and a steep population growth exerting pressure on already depleted natural capital and resources exarbarated by changing climate. Ninety-eight percent of all of all water resources are already allocated due to the increasing supply demand and it is predicted that by 2030 demand will outstrip supply by 17%.

South Africa is confronted with serious water challenges such as non-revenue water, skills shortages, ageing infrastructure, shifting demand patterns, overwhelming water supply demand and outdated solutions for emerging challenges. Water distribution is managed via a large number of dams that store this precious water all over the country, and a number of water transfer schemes that move water from one catchment via pumps, pipes and canals into other catchments.

It is acknowledged in many South African policy documents that research, development and innovation and private public partnerships are key in addressing this complex water challenges and to ensure availability and quality of water resources and their efficient use for sustainable healthy economy and communities.

Water demand in progress:

Agriculture (60%),
Environmental use (18%),
Urban and Domestic use (11,5%) and
Mining / Industrial use (10%)

South Africa a full member of the Water JPI:

South Africa joined the Water JPI in 2014 for some specific activities and became a full member in November 2017. South Africa is represented in the Water JPI by the Department of Science and Technology and the Water Research Commission, a public entity established through the Water Research Act of 1971.

Water JPI membership:

23 member countries from Europe and beyond – including Israel, Norway, Republic of Moldova, South Africa and Turkey
3 observer countries – Belgium, Greece and Hungary
5 partner countries associated in joint actions – Brazil, Canada, Egypt, Taiwan and Tunisia

The participation of South Africa within the Water JPI

South Africa participated so far in five calls and also contributes to the JPI knowledge hubs:

2015 Joint Call on Waste water treatment and water reuse
2016 Joint Call on Water challenges in agriculture, forestry and freshwater aquaculture in 2016
2017 Joint Call on Water resource management in support of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs)
2018 Joint Call on Closing the Water cycle gap – Sustainable management of water resources
2020 Joint Call on Risks posed to human health and the environment by pollutants and pathogens present in the water resources
The first knowledge hub on Contaminants of Emerging Concern, launched in March 2018
The new knowledge hub on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), to be launched in end 2019

South Africa participation in funding Water JPI RDI Projects:

2015 Joint Call

IMDROFLOOD – Improving Drought and Flood Early Warning, Forecasting and Mitigation using real-time hydroclimatic indicators - University of Cape Town

2016 Joint Call

OPERA - Operationalizing the increase of water use efficiency and resilience in irrigation - Stellenbosch University

2017 Joint Call

IDOUM – Innovative Decentralized and low cost treatment systems for Optimal Urban wastewater Management - Council for Scientific and Industrial Research
MADMACS – Mass development of aquatic macrophytes – causes and consequences of macrophyte removal for ecosystem structure, function, and services - Centre for Biological Control, Rhodes University
NANO-CARRIERS – Micro- and nanoplastics as carriers for the spread of chemicals and antibiotic resistance in the aquatic environment - Durban University of Technology
URBWAT – Designing, implementing, monitoring and understanding a grey water drainage and partial treatment system within an urban informal settlement - University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg

2018 Joint Call

ENTRUGO – Enhancing trust in government through effective water Governance strategies - African Climate & Development Initiative, University of Cape Town
EVIBAN – Evidence based assessment of NWRM for sustainable water management - Stellenbosch University Water Institute
NATWIP – Nature Based Solutions for Sustainable and Resilient Water Management in the Anthropocene - Faculty AgriSciences, Stellenbosch University
NEWTS – Nudges for Economics of Water Tariffs - Economics Policy Research Unit
RAINSOLUTIONS – Research-based Assessment of Integrated approaches to Nature-Based solutions - Universities of Johannesburg and Pretoria
SENSE & PURIFY – Combining remote sensing with in-situ sensing to track the spatial and temporal in fresh and transitional waters - University of the Western Cape

More at: http://opendata.waterjpi.eu/