<p>The water resources management regime has shifted from one focusing almost exclusively on augmenting supply to one where ensuring access, equity and sustainability are an integral part of the process. A growing demand for water and the fact that the amount of fresh water is constant raises the impression of water scarcity will occur. Indications are that the notion of access to water for basic needs as well as access to productive water underpins perceptions of scarcity. This thesis interrogated perceptions of scarcity in a small rural community in order to understand the role water can play in developing sustainable livelihoods.</p>

A research report submitted to the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Engineering, Johannesburg, 2017 / Human beings depend on water not only for life itself but also for their economic wellbeing. Water resources play a cardinal role in the creation of everything that human beings produce. Post-apartheid South Africa is in the throes of incredible challenges. One of the more important challenges is access for all citizens to basic services. South Africa is doing this against a backdrop of strongly differential servicing that is its apartheid legacy, which has prompted many commentators to label South Africa a country of two worlds, more specifically, a developed world component and an impoverished developing world component. The challenge with respect to water is to ensure universal access in the context of the added hurdle of South Africa being a water-scarce country. The local municipalities of the Eastern Cape have been facing a number of challenges in the provision of clean, portable water to their communities. This has resulted in inadequate provision of water, meaning that not all communities have access to clean water 24 hours a day The overall objective for this study is to contribute to the body of knowledge available to the water sector about the management of sustainable water supply systems in municipalities, and determine the factors that have undermined the sustainability of water provision at a local government municipal level in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. In this research, the effectiveness of local governments, which act as water services authorities (WSA) and providers of water to the rural communities, is examined. To this end, a comprehensive literature review was conducted and data gathered to discover why there has been a failure in the provision of clean drinking water. The results of the research illustrate that institutional incapacity in rural municipalities and widespread poverty serve to undermine the sustainability of the local government sector and lead to breakdowns in services delivery. Measures are proposed that can be adopted to improve the current approaches of water supply in local municipalities. / CK2018

<p>The water resources management regime has shifted from one focusing almost exclusively on augmenting supply to one where ensuring access, equity and sustainability are an integral part of the process. A growing demand for water and the fact that the amount of fresh water is constant raises the impression of water scarcity will occur. Indications are that the notion of access to water for basic needs as well as access to productive water underpins perceptions of scarcity. This thesis interrogated perceptions of scarcity in a small rural community in order to understand the role water can play in developing sustainable livelihoods.</p>

The aim of this thesis is to analyze the forms of ownership of the water supply infrastructure in terms of its operation, the number of operators and the impact assessment on the drinking water price for end customers. All this with a view to assessing whether it is appropriate to ensure the operation with private entities or to have municipalities operate the water management infrastructure separately. The analysis unambiguously confirms that the current number of owners and operators exceeding 9 thousand companies is unnecessarily harmful to the effective management of this area. Quantitative research shows that only 52 companies provide a full 97% of the volume of invoiced water. At the same time, economic analysis proves that the efficiency of the economy is not determined by ownership but by effective management. The result of this work is the confirmation that the water price is primarily influenced by the place of drinking water supply, long-term sustainable development of the water supply infrastructure area and effective management of an adequate number of companies.

The rural areas of Amathole district municipality continue to experience difficulty in accessing water services. The people experience problems despite the fact that the Amathole district municipality, since 2003 has been made a water service authority in its municipal area, which consists of eight local municipalities, namely; Mnquma, Mbashe, Nkonkobe, Amahlathi, Great Kei, Ngqushwa, Nxuba, and Buffalo City. With the water service authority powers devolved from national government to the district municipalities the intention was to speed service delivery. This study investigates the causes of the delays in water service delivery experienced in rural areas of this district municipality. The Buffalo City local municipality is excluded in the study because Buffalo City has as well been given the responsibility of being the water service authority in its municipal area. This study used the questionnaires as data collection tool, and it was distributed to these respondents; chief officials, councilors, and citizens. Due to vastness of the target population sampling was used to reduce the bulkiness of the data. The questionnaire content is based on the phases of the systems theory to see if the policy making processes of the Amathole district municipality are carried out in accordance with the systems theory. The study has found that the citizens are not adequately involved in all the policy processes including the policy analysis and evaluation. This has been found to be a contributory factor in the ineffectiveness of the municipality water service delivery.The spheres of government that operate in silos compromised policy analysis and evaluation of the municipality, and disjuncture of the delivery programs of the spheres and state enterprises caused a huge service delivery challenges for this municipality. The study has confirmed that the Amathole district municipality is experiencing problems, delays, and challenges that make it to be ineffective as a water service authority.

Orientadores: José Gilberto Dalfré Filho, Antonio Carlos Zuffo / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Civil, Arquitetura e Urbanismo / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-27T05:15:29Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Manca_RicardodaSilva_D.pdf: 9827173 bytes, checksum: 450008bf7cf24543fd46e355c0e9e892 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015 / Resumo: A discussão acerca do gerenciamento dos recursos hídricos torna-se mais complexa e importante à medida que ocorre a integração entre todas as medidas cabíveis, tanto na oferta quanto na demanda, que permitem o uso eficiente da água. No entanto, ainda há um longo caminho a percorrer para assegurar a distribuição eficiente e equitativa da água. Se os planos voltados à distribuição de água buscavam somente novas captações, atualmente, precisam incorporar novas ferramentas de gestão, tais como a redução das perdas de água, o reúso, o racionamento, a bonificação e tarifação, as campanhas de incentivo à redução do consumo. Mesmo que todas as alternativas do gerenciamento da demanda sejam importantes, é preciso que se definam quais as ações que realmente podem ser valoradas e mensuradas de acordo com a responsabilidade do gestor do sistema, ou seja, há uma enorme dificuldade em se ponderar opções que poderiam contribuir com o aumento da disponibilidade de água de uma região, mas que dependem de fatores externos não controláveis, como fatores climáticos e conscientização da sociedade. Nesse sentido, o objetivo desta pesquisa foi identificar e hierarquizar as principais ações de atuação na demanda hídrica que podem contribuir para o aumento da disponibilidade de água da Região Metropolitana de São Paulo. Fazendo uso do método de tomada de decisão Delphi e das metodologias multicriteriais AHP, CP e CGT, a avaliação dos resultados mostra que medidas como o reúso e a redução de perdas são aliados importantes e que podem contribuir para a diminuição da escassez hídrica nesta região. Dessa forma, conhecendo-se as duas principais medidas prioritárias para a Região Metropolitana de São Paulo, o trabalho propõe a criação do Gerenciamento Integrado da Demanda de Água Prioritário (GIDAP), que avalia todas as medidas no estudo da demanda, porém, com valoração maior para o reúso e a redução de perdas de água / Abstract: The discussion about the management of water resources becomes more complex and important as the integration occurs between all appropriate measures, both supply and demand, which allow the efficient use of water. However, there is still a long way to go to ensure the efficient and equitable distribution of water. If the trend of the traditional planning of water distribution is only the search for new funding nowadays it is necessary to incorporate new management tools, such as the reduction of water losses, reuse, rationing, the subsidy and pricing, incentive campaigns to reduction of consumption. Even if all the demand management alternatives are important, it is necessary to define what actions can actually be valued and measured in accordance with the system manager's responsibility, ie, there is a huge difficulty in considering options that could contribute to the increased availability of water in a region, but that depend on uncontrollable external factors such as climatic factors and awareness of society. In this sense, the objective of this research was to identify and prioritize the key working actions in water demand that may contribute to the increased availability of water in the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo. Making use of the decision-making method Delphi and multicriteria methodologies AHP, CP and CGT, the evaluation of the results shows that measures such as the reuse and waste reduction are important allies and that can contribute to the reduction of water scarcity in the region. Thus, knowing the two main priorities for the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo, the paper proposes the creation of the Integrated Management of Water Demand Priority (GIDAP), which assesses all the measures on the demand study, however, with valuation highest to reuse and reduction of water losses / Doutorado / Recursos Hidricos, Energeticos e Ambientais / Doutor em Engenharia Civil

Strains among the states of Central Asia caused by overuse of the region?s scarce water resources have been increasing in recent years. This is especially true for the relations between Tajikistan, upstream, and Uzbekistan, downstream, on the Amudarya River. Major controversy exists over constructing Rogun Dam on the Vakhsh River, a tributary of the Amudarya River. Construction of Rogun Dam, with a planned height of 335 m (1099 ft), began in 1976 but was stopped in 1991 with the breakup of the former Soviet Union. The intent of this dam is to supply Tajikistan with energy, but a side effect will be the changed flow regime of the Amudarya River to downstream states (especially Uzbekistan). The major impact will be on the agricultural sector of Uzbekistan. The objectives of this study are to estimate the monetary impacts of Rogun Dam and propose mitigation measures to minimize impacts. The study investigates the nature and extent of those impacts and indicates policy implications to mitigate negative consequences of the possible water shortage in summer by assessing the baseline situation and comparing that situation with future status-quo (no changes) level of water. Future water shortage could cost Uzbekistan annually over US $609 million economic loss in agriculture, reduce the country?s GDP by 2.2%, and result in 336,000 unemployed people. If Uzbekistan changes its present water use practice and increases water use efficiency, the future water shortage during irrigation periods will not as seriously affect the country?s economy, as adaptive management measures could cut the losses by 40%.

Thesis (MPA.) -- University of Limpopo, 2019 / This study is about an investigation into the provisioning of water and sanitation services in Ga-Kgapane Township in the Limpopo Province. Since the year 2002, the residents of Ga-Kgapane Township live without sufficient water supply services. Residents receive tap water once a week and they depend on supply from water tankers for the rest of the week. This township has a water borne sewage system and most of the households have indoor toilets. The study used a mixed method because it had incorporated both elements of qualitative and quantitative methodologies in its approaches. The research instruments such as semi-structured interviews, questionnaires, documentary data extraction and observations were used to collect information. The study’s sample size comprised of 77 key participants and informants from Mopani District Municipality (Water Services Authority); Lepelle-Northern Water Board (implementing agency and bulk water supplier); Greater Letaba Municipality (Water Service Provider); Ward Councillors and community members (endusers). The research findings revealed that Ga-Kgapane Township’s water and sanitation provision challenges are due to insufficient or lack of water, poor water management and poor governance. It was also discovered that the MDM and GLM have failed to translate the rights to water and sanitation into law, policy, budget and service provision for the Ga-Kgapane Township residents. The insufficient water supply challenge resulted in some community members migrating to other areas where there is better basic service provision. The residents failed to exploit the economic development opportunities which resulted in health risks as they were exposed to danger due to burst sewer pipes which spewed raw sewerage water on the streets. The sewage contaminated the township’s natural streams. This study’s findings could form a basis for future research on the effectiveness of the MDM’s Water Services Provision Agreement which was signed with the district’s local municipalities. The Mopani District Municipality has for many years v received undesired audit opinions ranging from ‘Adverse to Disclaimer’ notices. This affects the local municipalities too as they are all qualified-on water transactions. As part of the recommendations, the study proposed that the Greater Letaba Municipality should utilise the Intergovernmental Relations Forum to address the plight of the provision of water and sanitation services in Ga-Kgapane Township.

MESHWR / Department of Hydrology and Water Resources / Lebalelo area of Sekhukhune district is one of many areas in South Africa experiencing portable water scarcity, especially during prolonged dry season. Due to the dominance of low yielding aquifers in South Africa, it is essential to manage groundwater resources in these low yielding aquifers. However, the management of low yielding aquifer is difficult in areas like Labelelo where the hydrogeological characteristics of the aquifers are understudied. This study investigated the hydrogeological characteristics of the aquifers in the area using combined geophysical method and analytical groundwater models. Four newly drilled borehole and five existing boreholes were used for this study. Geophysical survey was carried out using magnetic and electromagnetic methods. The magnetic survey was used to locate the position of magnetic bodies such as dolerite dykes and different lithologies with different magnetic properties. The electromagnetic survey however, was used to determine zones of high permeability associated with the intrusive bodies as well as high permeability zones in fault planes. Step test, constant discharge test and recovery tests were conducted on all the boreholes to stress the borehole. This was used to determine a suitable and sustainable pumping rate of the aquifer. Pumping test data from the pumping period and recovery was evaluated and interpreted using AQTESOLVE. Aquifer transmissivity, storativity, internal and external hydraulic boundaries were determined from the data. The transmissivity in the area ranges from 0.08 to 124.7 m2/day. The aquifer types in the area are double porosity aquifer, radial flow aquifer with single porosity. Inductive Coupled Plasma (ICP-MS) was used to measure heavy metals, trace metals and cations while Ion Chromatography (IC) was used to determine anions in groundwater of the study area. The groundwater in the area is dominated by calcium carbonate as a result of long residence time with dolomite. The hydrochemistry of the water indicates that the chemistry of the groundwater in the area is mainly controlled by rock-water interaction. / NRF

Arizona agriculture faces many changes in the near future. One of the most imminent changes will come from the enactment of the 1980 Arizona Groundwater Management Act. The 1980 AGWMA is designed ultimately to curtail the use of groundwater in Arizona. Agriculture will be affected since this sector used approximately 87 percent of all water in the State in 1980. This study reports on the possible effects that a proposed pump tax and water duty policy would have on agriculture within the Phoenix Active Management Area. The PAMA is one of four such areas in the State that have been identified as needing groundwater use management. The results of this study indicate that the proposed water duty is more effective in curbing groundwater use than the proposed pump tax. Investment in more water application efficient irrigation technologies is also important in this study. However, substantial amounts of capital investment funds will be needed to begin this investment.