Water, Sewage & Effluent July August 2018 | Page 39

Being a water-scarce country
means that we must plan
well ahead and I do hope that
the Minister of Water and
Sanitation strengthens his
planning unit in partnership
with experts in the private
sector, like WISA and SAICE.
References
• Kuiper, E. 1971. Water
Resources Project
Economics. London:
Butterworth & Co.
• Department of Water
Affairs. 2013. National Water
Resources Strategy. 2nd
Edition.
innovations
In the planning process, the
economics of project evaluation
becomes essential and this will then
be weighed up against some social
welfare components that may be
more difficult to quantify in economic
terms. In the viability analysis, the use
of techniques such as cost-benefit
ratios become important tools. The
world is prone to risks and these must
be brought into the picture as well.
Cost-effective
planning
implies
the proper evaluation of all possible
scenarios and options. Feasibility studies
can highlight all the advantages and
disadvantages of each option, as well
as the associated cost. Planning must be
done over the full life cycle of a project.
management in proper water resource
management. Why not? It takes time
and lots of money to implement the right
infrastructure projects and to establish
effective management systems. It can be
extremely costly and totally ineffective
to jump at short-term plans and knee-
jerk reactions. Proper planning and
subsequent implementation of such plans
can prevent crisis management. u
Kuiper (1971) spells out a few rules for
efficient planning, namely:
• There should be a clearly stated
policy that defines the objectives
to be pursued and the priorities
to be applied, as well as the
principles to be followed when
allocating funds.
• Efficient planning requires a
free and ample flow of ideas and
proposals from above to below
and from below to above. In
practice, this means that officials
(below) should not sit and wait
for ideas from politicians (above)
but create ideas and plans on
their own, and the organisation
should stimulate and encourage
an interchange of such ideas.
• Third, a horizontal flow of
proposals and counterproposals
back and forth between the
various resource departments
that are working on a regional
plan. This is contrary to the ‘silo’
mentality as usually engrained in
organisations.
The public perception is that the
largest chunk of funds is spent during
construction, but the actual fact is
that more money will be needed for
operations and maintenance over the
40 or 50-year life of such a project.
Many a so-called ‘cheaper alternative’
has brought long-term financial misery
to the owner or operating utility. In
water projects it can, for example,
mean higher energy costs associated
with the cheaper alternative, where
smaller diameter pipes have been
installed, disregarding the higher
electricity demands.
Frequently, equipment is installed
with total disregard of maintenance,
proving extremely costly in the end.
Being a water-scarce country
means that we must plan well ahead,
and I do hope that the Minister of
Water and Sanitation strengthens
his planning unit in partnership with
experts in the private sector, like
WISA and SAICE. This will ensure
that all the necessary steps are
taken to assess current and future
demand for water and to plan
timeously for augmentation projects,
to guarantee that no water shortages
are experienced. He does not need
another Commission of Enquiry to
motivate and explain that.
The second National Water
Resources Strategy, as published
by his own department in 2013,
summarises planning of water
resources as: “The availability of
water is estimated using sophisticated
techniques
for
analysing
and
interpreting the extensive body of
hydrological information available
in South Africa. These techniques
are supported by world-class
mathematical models capable of
representing even the most complex
of the national water resource
systems. Of particular importance,
is the analytical capability to
account for the large variability in
hydrological conditions in South
Africa, as reflected in the range and
changeability of climatic conditions
across the country, as well as the
possible impacts of climate change.
“A powerful attribute of these
planning tools is the ability to model
combinations of future growth and
hydrological conditions in a large river
system using probabilistic approaches.
In this way, the risk of unacceptable
shortfalls occurring, with significant
social and economic consequences,
can be minimised.”
Water management is not crisis
management. There is no place for crisis
About the author
Helgard Muller is a regular
contributor to Water, Sewage &
Effluent (WSE). His vast knowledge
in policy and regulations while
at the Department of Water and
Sanitation adds huge value to WSE.
Water Sewage & Effluent July/August 2018
37
Why is planning so crucial? Water
resourcing is a complex business
and numerous aspects must be
incorporated into the analysis of
options. These include environmental,
technical, social, as well as economic
aspects. Not even to mention the
international dimension, where river
basins are shared, like most of our
major rivers. It takes up to 20 years
from planning for a large project
like the Lesotho Highlands to come
into operation, so clearly, the typical
political horizon of five years between
elections is insufficient. Proper
planning must span across such short-
term priorities and the role of stable
entities with sufficient technical skills
becomes crucial.