cannot prevent destruction caused by such floods, integration of healthy ecological green infrastructure in planning and the management of other urban infrastructure assets would have alleviated by magnitude the costs to the business, insurances, and people’ s properties. This is a living example that illustrates the value of wetlands, which goes beyond the attenuation of flood energy, provided those wetland plants are maintained in good health condition.
The opposite of floods— drought— is currently being experienced in Cape Town and in the broader Western Cape province. Again, the retention and slow release of water from wetlands during droughts have been widely reported in literature. While these difficult experiences are underway and stressful, it is also an opportune time to review our relationship with nature and nature-based solutions.
To this extent, DWS is leading a complete turnaround of its operations through the development of the National Water and Sanitation Master Plan. This huge exercise is aimed at shifting from‘ job as usual’ to a‘ new normal’, which takes serious future projections of frequent droughts and floods— a situation that calls for future cities’ resilience. The plan will see the merging of water supply and raw water resources management in planning developments and water demands, which must be objective and contextualised. Traditionally, water availability is assumed in the business planning until later when it is realised that water assurance of good quantity and quality is a limiting factor!
The Master Plan, in line with the World Economic Forum, has noted water as one of the top risks facing humanity now and into the future as populations and other water demands escalate. The estimations are that by 2030, urbanisation will have driven more people towards cities, putting extra pressure on wetlands and rivers. Much of this is already reported through numerous WRC reports— a situation that demands speedy review of urban settlement / business / transport mechanism designs that are sensitive to nature.
Various international plans / strategies, such as Sustainable Development Goals: 2030( particularly Goal 6 as interlinked), the African Agenda 2063, the National Development Plan, and city plans, provide support to the realisation of a greener economy that promises better life for all on targeted time frames. Fortunately, wetlands and their restoration and maintenance as ecological infrastructures are prominently listed as priority resources to be given immediate attention. Indeed, water is life!
The WRC is one of the world leaders in generating new knowledge critical in policy decision-making. Most of the key reports already exist in managing wetlands. More work is underway. Just as an illustration, a framework report( TT 732 / 17) with special focus on Ramsar wetlands was launched during the WWD 2018 celebrations. The framework provides for the collection of key biodiversity and biophysical information required by the Ramsar Convention.
Many countries( including South Africa) who are signatories to the Ramsar Convention battle to generate and report on this aspect. In realising this gap, through a WRC-organised dialogue, DEA agreed on producing this framework as an urgent matter. The framework was launched in the City of Tshwane Metro during the celebration, organised by a partnership with City of Tshwane, DWS, DEA / SANBI.
The WRC in its Research Development and Innovation Strategy plan has made a dedicated effort to focus on ecological infrastructure, resilience, governance, and social and economic aspects of wetlands. This is done to emphasise research towards the‘ new normal’ meant for survival, despite risks posed by various threats to our limited water resources. Real water price in the light of ecological infrastructure maintenance demands attracting investments into environmental protection or ecosystem insurance value( a risk mitigation perspective), and many more avenues are receiving direct attention.
It is therefore not enough to justify the protection of wetlands by noting the biodiversity importance. While that is critical, the change in language and approach, such as focus on beneficial services provided by wetlands, is gaining momentum. The WRC is not only engaging partners within the country, but also in the SADC region, African continent, and beyond. u Bonani Madikizela is research manager: water and ecosystem management at the Water Research Commission. Source: www. bizcommunity. com networking contributor innovations industry debate environment infrastructure municipalities
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