Testing water demand management scenarios in a water-stressed basin in South Africa: application of the WEAP model

The aim of this project was to develop a methodology to determine the effectiveness of Water Demand Management (WDM) and Water Conservation (WC) measures in developing regions and countries. The project, which was sponsored by South Africa's Water Research Commission, involved a critical examination of those applicable local (South African) conditions that guide the development of the methodology. Some of the specific challenges identified included the practical definition of linkage between the principle of increasing the supply of water through the implementation of WDM/WC measures and the unlimited needs of users, a strong culture of non-payment for water which limits the impact of economic measures, the overall lack of programmes for the repair and maintenance of water infrastructure as well as the increasing shortage of skilled human resources. Several existing related methodologies were examined in order to provide a historic and conceptual framework for the research. Selected WDM/WC case studies, both locally in South Africa and internationally, have provided useful insight during the development of the methodology. A pragmatic and easy to understand consolidated methodology has been developed that takes cognisance of the objectives of Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM). The methodology is a consultative and consensus based approach assisted by numerous graphic based techniques, tools and examples.

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Water demand management - philosophy or implementation?

Water Science & Technology Water Supply ◽

10.2166/ws.2004.0040 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 4 (3) ◽

pp. 25-32

Author(s):

J.S. Buckle

Keyword(s):

Water Demand ◽

Community Education ◽

Water Cycle ◽

Demand Management ◽

Water Industry ◽

Water Demand Management ◽

Management Philosophy ◽

Leakage Reduction ◽

Drought Conditions ◽

African Context

This paper describes the introduction of water demand management in the southern African context. Originally a response to drought conditions, water demand management is now a key element in Rand Water's strategy of water cycle management - a mix of interventions that (holistically and continuously) keep the water industry viable and sustainable. This experience points to awareness and community education programmes being an essential companion to the technical interventions such as leakage reduction measures.

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Social interaction in water demand management implementation

Water Science & Technology Water Supply ◽

10.2166/ws.2005.0112 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 5 (3-4) ◽

pp. 295-301

Author(s):

J.S. Buckle

Keyword(s):

Social Interaction ◽

Water Use ◽

Water Demand ◽

Water Cycle ◽

Demand Management ◽

Community Members ◽

Water Demand Management ◽

Education Project ◽

Broad Concept ◽

Efficient Water Use

This article describes a successful awareness and education project undertaken in an East Rand township by the Water Cycle Management Section of Rand Water. The Project's focus was to create awareness in the community of the broad concept of water cycle management within an environment and to transfer skills to community members (facilitators) who could then assist in ensuring effective and efficient water use.

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Elicitation of expert knowledge to develop decision support tools for use in water demand management planning

Water Science & Technology Water Supply ◽

10.2166/ws.2007.110 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 7 (5-6) ◽

pp. 53-60

Author(s):

D. Inman ◽

D. Simidchiev ◽

P. Jeffrey

Keyword(s):

Decision Support ◽

Water Demand ◽

Expert Knowledge ◽

Demand Management ◽

Decision Processes ◽

Conservation Strategy ◽

Influence Diagrams ◽

Decision Support Tools ◽

Water Demand Management ◽

Support Tools

This paper examines the use of influence diagrams (IDs) in water demand management (WDM) strategy planning with the specific objective of exploring how IDs can be used in developing computer-based decision support tools (DSTs) to complement and support existing WDM decision processes. We report the results of an expert consultation carried out in collaboration with water industry specialists in Sofia, Bulgaria. The elicited information is presented as influence diagrams and the discussion looks at their usefulness in WDM strategy design and the specification of suitable modelling techniques. The paper concludes that IDs themselves are useful in developing model structures for use in evidence-based reasoning models such as Bayesian Networks, and this is in keeping with the objectives set out in the introduction of integrating DSTs into existing decision processes. The paper will be of interest to modellers, decision-makers and scientists involved in designing tools to support resource conservation strategy implementation.

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