TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR A WRC DIRECTED CALL PROJECT
KEY STRATEGIC AREA :2
THRUST : 4: SUSTAINABLE ECOSYSTEM UTILIZATION & DEVELOPMENT
PROGRAMME : 2 Ecosystem Value-chain and Markets
TITLE: Phase 2: Demonstration of how healthy ecological infrastructure can be utilized to secure water for the
benefit of society and the green economy through a programmatic research approach based on selected
landscapes.
Objectives:
General:
To develop and test an adaptable multidisciplinary and multi-sectoral socio-ecological water resource management
framework in selected catchments or basin(s) through action research for inclusive and participatory catchment
management. This research is aimed at responding to the green economy, water for growth and development, and
government strategies/priorities as reflected in the National Development Plan and other strategies, such as the
WRC knowledge tree.
Specific:
Due to the spatial and temporal complexity of river catchments or basins, the impact made by individual focused
research is generally small and hence there is an urgent need for a multidisciplinary and multi-sectoral programme
that has many interlinked research projects aimed at improving the interaction between land use and water resource
quality. This approach is expected to improve the goods and services water resources can provide to beneficiaries.
A consortium with various necessary experts will be mandatory in order to achieve the goals of this programme. The
complexity of developing an implementable framework for integrated water resource management, carries huge risks
caused by uncertainty. To minimize/manage risks, this programme will run over 5 – 15 years, following a phased
approached. Phase one is underway, finishing in October 2013. This second phase will be focused on the following
objectives:
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To investigate and report on the status of catchment land-use and water resource quality in the selected
cathment(s)
2 Cost the impacts of ecosystem degradation on water users from different stakeholder experiences using an
evidence based approach
3 Investigate how an intact ecological infrastructure could secure and enhance the benefits provided to
society and economy in the catchment
4 With the aid of the stakeholder water resource management framework produced in phase 1, develop a cost
effective conservation management strategy based on the green economy
5 Develop and train beneficiaries on appropriate methods (models, guidelines, indicators, procedures)
necessary to achieve a paradigm shift to transform society, and the economy towards a healthy interaction
with the ecological infrastructure within the catchment
6 Describe the catchment connectivity from both bio-physical and social aspects that are core in
understanding drivers of the catchment processes and characteristics
Recommend further research on the social and ecological interface critical to improve natural resources
management at the catchment level
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Rationale:
For many years the Water Research Commission and some other organizations have supported research intended
to inform management of the use of South Africa’s water resources. Although the WRC and other partners,
supported research programmes, much of the research has been designed and conducted as individual research
projects. Whilst this approach has contributed significantly, it is rarely synthesized to inform broader and integrated
understanding that can lead to meeting the aspirations of the NWA, the IWRM through de-centralization of
responsibilities. The information and potential for informing an integrated approach to managing the use of SA’s
water resources is absent in most project reports. The challenge faced by the individualistic approach is evidenced
through the general concern and continued decline in the status of the quality of the country’s water resources.
The need for a consolidated multiple research approach in a selected catchment is becoming more evident to test
various research outputs as well as international best practices. The impact of research is determined by the scale
and extent of its influence on society and policy decisions in the real world within which it operates. It is widely
accepted that the catchment is the most realistic unit of water resource management in order to encompass all the
drivers and responses that characterize the affected water resources. A catchment approach is complicated and
therefore requires long term action to improve predictability based on, regular review and continuous learning, or
learn by doing to benefit the ecological infrastructure and society.
Water resources increasingly limit social and economic development and threaten the ecosystems that deliver goods
and services essential for life. Whilst this message is quite commonly expressed in public literature, a generally poor
understanding of the critical importance of integrated catchment management to sustain water resources still
persists. Decisions are made, often with the best intentions, but with little appreciation for the far reaching negative
implications on the sustainable and equitable use of the water resource. Experts have identified four key principles
requiring urgent attention:
1. Fresh water is a finite, shared and vulnerable resource, essential to sustain life, development and the
environment
2. Water development and management should be based on a participatory approach involving users,
planners and policymakers at all levels
3. Women in rural areas play a central part in the provision, management and safeguarding of water
4. Water has an economic value in all its competing uses and should be recognized as an economic good.
In order to realize the IWRM, it is critical to develop within society a willingness to embrace these principles. But to do
so requires that society is enabled to frame the issues that confront them and to develop and apply the requisite
knowledge. One of the reasons science battles to provide immediate solutions is because of the complexity of the
challenges that faces today’s water resource management. Impacts on our water resources include negative water
quality effects, loss of productivity, negative health impacts, eutrophication, groundwater contamination and various
other impacts with tangible and intangible economic and environmental consequences. This is further exacerbated by
sure threats, such as of adaptation strategies to climate change, desertification, impacts of alien and invasive
species.
It is recognized that many of these problems originate at a catchment scale and include the agricultural and industrial
activities, poorly managed waste water treatment works and human settlements impacts. It is most likely that in this
study, a significant emphasis will be in rehabilitation because of the large extent of land degradation which has led to
seriously impaired water courses.
A number of stakeholders at government level, industry, agriculture, land, National Planning Commission,
Transboundary authorities, and many more, ideally need to be involved in order to ensure a sustainable initiative
beyond the lifespan of the programme.
Deliverables:
The deliverables should address the objectives as follows:
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A report on the water resource quality status from a catchment perspective
A synthesis of quantified costs incurred through the use of poor water quality by various stakeholders,
including impacts on biodiversity as a result of collapsing ecological infrastructure
A report based on the tested evidence demonstrating how intact ecological infrastructure could have
alleviated the costs resulting from degraded ecosystems
A comprehensive conservation management plan for the catchment based on the support by society,
business, NGO’s, associations and embedded in legislation
A report on the water resource connectivity, inter-dependency between surface and ground water, as
well as societal connection, all from a landscape perspective
Recommendations on further core research necessary to ensure sustainable catchment management
into the future
Impact Area:
1. Inform policy and decision-making
2. Develop new products and services for economic development
3. Enhance Human Capital Development (HCD)
4. Empower Communities
5. Promote transformation and redress
6. Drive sustainable development solutions
Time Frame:
6-years:
START: 1 April 2014
END:
1 April 2020
Total Funds Available:
R5 000 000 is budgeted for and available to support this project over a period of approximately six years.
Year 2014/15 = R500 000
Year 2015/16 = R1 000 000
Year 2016/17 = R1 000 000
Year 2017/18 = R1 000 000
Year 2019/19 = R1 000 000
Year 2019/20 = R500 000
TOTAL: R5 000 000
Closing Date : 30 August 2013
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