Problems in the water sector range from degradation and depletion of water resources as a result of
the impacts of land based anthropogenic activities, to the impacts of natural hydrological disasters and
floods, while inadequate availability of water is at the core of most water related disputes in arid and
semi-arid areas at local, regional, national and international levels. In the past, finding practical
solutions for these problems fell neatly within the traditional scope of water resources management,
which hinged almost entirely on economic viability of engineering oriented endeavors. However, a new
set of management challenges has arisen following the high priority nowadays given to equity in water
allocation and the protection of the natural environment above other issues. These new challenges have
created a need for devising and adopting suitable management approaches, especially that would take
social considerations into account. One of the approaches that provides promise relative to the new
directions in dealing with contemporary water issues is integrated water resources management
(IWRM).
One objective of this study was to critically review the definitions and the fundamental principles of
IWRM with the view of determining its applicability in developing countries and highlighting
difficulties that may be faced regarding the adoption and implementation of this integrated approach.
Swaziland is atypical example ofa developing country that is engulfed by the diverse water resources
issues highlighted above and is currently engaged in updating water management legislation. Hence,
Swaziland's experiences were used to put in perspective the key points and barriers regarding the
adoption and implementation of IWRM.
The catchment, the recommended spatial unit of IWRM, poses the first practical barrier, as
catchments often cross both political and administrative boundaries, thereby creating the need for many
water management problems to be solved across catchments with international security issues,
cultural issues, different levels of development and different hydroclimatic regimes. The successful
implementation of IWRM depends on effective participation of stakeholders. Lack of information flow
between stakeholders of different backgrounds limits informed participation. Therefore, it is necessary
to develop tools such as decision support systems (DSSs) that will foster easier multilateral
information flow and aid decision making. IWRM requires information which itself should be managed in an integrated manner and be readily accessible. This is not always the case in developing countries
with shortage of funds for data collection, manipulation and storage as well as adequately trained and
experienced staff With the shortage of sufficiently long and reliable hydrological data for water
management, the alternative is to synthesize records through hydrological modelling. Another objective
of this study was to evaluate and test the suitability of the ACRU modelling system, a daily time-step
agrohydrological model, to simulate catchment level hydrological processes and land use impacts as
part of the assessment studies which form an integral part of integrated water resources management.
ACRU was set up for the Mbuluzi, a 2958 km2 catchment in Swaziland. The catchment was subdivided
into 40 sub catchments, after which the model was used for assessing both the impacts of land use and
management changes on runoff yields and available water resources by evaluating present and future
sectoral water demands, determining whether river flow from Swaziland into Mozambique meets the
quantitative requirements of the international agreement existing between the two countries, and
evaluating sediment yield and its spatial and temporal variation as well as its response to potential
changes in land management.
The physical-conceptual structure of the model, its multi-level adeptness regarding input information
requirements, coupled with in-built decision support systems and generic default values make ACRU
a suitable modelling tool in developing countries, as it makes it possible to obtain reasonable
simulations for a range of levels of input information. Together with the model's multi-purpose nature,
the ability of simulating ''what if scenarios", which was utilised in this study, makes it useful in the
generation of information for IWRM.
Future research needs which were identified include finding means of encouraging effective
communication between scientists, water managers and other stakeholders, who may be "lay people".
There is a need to conduct research that will lead to equipping ACRU with sediment routing and
deposition algorithms, as well as routines to account more explicitly for dam operating rules and
ecological issues, which would render its output even more useful in IWRM than the model's present
structure allows. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2001.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ukzn/oai:http://researchspace.ukzn.ac.za:10413/4508 |
| Date | January 2001 |
| Creators | Dlamini, Dennis Jabulani Mduduzi. |
| Contributors | Schulze, Roland E. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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