Question NW4125 to the Minister of Water and Sanitation

Reply:

a) The Department is unaware where the prediction that “the demand for water will surpass available supply in the Republic within seven years, with seven major water systems expected to run out by 2040” comes from. It does not come from the Department.

The Department undertakes various water resource and water services planning over 25-year horizons to ensure water security for the whole country including the eight (8) large water supply systems.

The planning includes projections of future water needs across all water sectors including for energy generation, domestic, agriculture, industry, afforestation, and mining, as all these sectors’ water demands are aligned with sector-specific growth projections, climate and others. The planning culminates in several targeted strategies that address water needs for specific areas, as well as the country at large. These are continuously monitored and progressively updated every three to five years to ensure that they remain current and representative of prevailing conditions.

b) To address emerging challenges of climate change, the Department is implementing a National Climate Change Response Strategy for the Water Sector, since 2013, in terms of which climate change has been mainstreamed in the water sector through awareness, training, revision of other sector strategies and plans to consider climate change guided by the developed climate change risk and vulnerability assessment (RVAs) in each quaternary catchment throughout the country.

Furthermore, the Department is updating the National Climate Change Status Quo Report and reviewing the National Climate Change Response Strategy for the water and sanitation sector to reflect new science and knowledge and emerging approaches to address climate change adaptation and mitigation pathways for the sector.

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