The science of climate change is clear and demands urgent action. The mounting scientific evidence of a climate catastrophe is not going to wait for politicians to get on board to tackle climate change with the urgency it needs. This year’s United Nations 28th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change meeting (known as COP28) is once again evidence that it is nothing but a talk shop with very little action.
After 28 years of COPS, this year there was some fanfare for the inclusion of the text calling for “a transition from fossil fuels”. But it’s not good enough. What was really needed was a strong approach to phasing out fossil fuels not phasing down.
What this means is that with the current commitments (or lack thereof) from governments, the world is now on track for about 2.5℃ of warming by 2100. The UN says that the window for keeping the 1.5℃ limit is “rapidly narrowing” as we are presently at about 1.1℃ or 1.2℃ compared with pre-industrial times.
Read more in Daily Maverick: COP28 news hub
This means that the change and action we need is going to have to be pushed by ordinary people if we want to avoid catastrophic climate shocks. In the water sector, this is going to mean communities mobilising and changing our relationship with how we use water and not waiting for the government to make the changes.
Impact of global heating on water
According to a Unicef article in March 2023, around 74% of natural disasters between 2001 and 2018 were water-related, including droughts and floods. The frequency and intensity of such events are only expected to increase with climate change. In essence, the article underscores that “a change in climate is felt primarily through a change in water”.
Climate change is going to affect both the quantity and quality of water further reducing access to safe drinking water across the world. Extreme weather can destroy or contaminate water supplies (the KZN ‘rain bomb’ is a case in point), increasing the risks of waterborne diseases including cholera and other pathogens. The rising sea levels are causing fresh water to become salty.
Looking at South Africa’s water, it’s clear that we can no longer rely on government alone to find the solutions or action the solutions to ensure safe, sustainable drinking water. The Blue Drop, Green Drop and No Drop reports released in early December by the Department of Water and Sanitation show a complete deterioration in quality controls across the country — 46% of drinking systems don’t comply with microbiological standards, 67.6% of wastewater treatment works are failing and 47.4% of our water is lost or unaccounted for.
The reports should have us all on high alert. It is a crisis and adding climate change will be like adding fuel to the fire.
Add climate change to the empty cauldron
Water is life. The combination of climate change, pollution and demand will put enormous pressure on our water that could result in depleted water resources. By 2025, we will not have sufficient water supplies to meet human and ecosystem requirements. Water is needed in all aspects of our lives. It is used for a range of activities including sanitation, healthcare, food, and life for all living organisms.
Clearly, our water resources, river ecosystems and infrastructure are in a dire state.
The Minister of Water and Sanitation, Senzo Mchunu, suggests there is no crisis. But a crisis is not just about the quantity of water in dams but also about the efficacy of the whole system. In Johannesburg, many areas are experiencing no water or intermittent supplies. In eThekwini and Cape Town, beaches had to be closed because of high levels of E.coli in the water. In smaller towns the water is just undrinkable because of bacteria.
Almost 60% of river ecosystems are threatened with extinction.
Read more in Daily Maverick: Water pollution: SA needs to act on herbicides, pesticides: experts
Water boards, responsible for bulk water supply and infrastructure are over-extended, cannot abstract enough water to meet the demand, and have not been paid by municipalities risking complete failure of our water system.
There is a concern regarding dam safety. In November 2022 the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) told the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Water and Sanitation hearing on Dam Safety and status of tailings dams that of the top 20 largest dams owned by the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS), only two dams are compliant with Dam Safety Evaluations requirements and only 45% of dams owned by Water Boards are compliant.
In an extreme drought or flood event, we do not have the mechanisms in place to ensure people’s safety and health.
Municipalities are failing, they cannot keep up with leaks, lost water, polluted water, failed wastewater treatment works. There are very few (if any) that will be able to withstand a climate shock or event as we witnessed in KZN in 2022.
Municipalities can’t even do the basics and notify consumers now in the event of water quality being compromised or not monitored.
Many do not have water management plans — so how will they deal with or are planning to deal with climate shocks? We must not wait for it to hit us like an unexpected tsunami. We the people have to build our networks and act.
Organised communities and people to deal with water
The vast challenges we are facing in the water sector do not have a one-stop solution. As a start, let’s declare the water situation a crisis or disaster because that is what it is.
We need everyone to build on ideas and solutions that can be tackled at a local level. We need to build on the energy that we are seeing across SA of people cleaning their communities, fixing bridges, painting traffic lights, and filling potholes.
Read more in Daily Maverick: Water crisis forum established to address residents’ concerns
Beyond that, NGOs and residents associations can do a range of things to monitor local governments from questioning the effectiveness of government spending, especially on water tanks across the country. Increase water quality testing and make the information publicly available. Using the data, demand accountability from municipalities.
In many of these community groups and organisations, there are a range of skills that can be built on and shared. It is through these networks that we will be able to change our relationship with water and find local solutions and responses to climate shocks, including everyone becoming more aware of saving, reusing, recycling and respecting water.
It is not about doing the work of municipalities, it is about taking back our cities and about protecting our future by building responses to climate risks and water resources — a very vital resource for now and into the future. Everyone can play a role in helping to save water and fight climate change. As we come together to talk about these challenges we can also build new ideas and solutions.
The time for positive action to save water and protect our climate is now. We cannot wait for local governments to act for us — they really just don’t give a damn! DM
Ferrial Adam is the winner of Daily Maverick’s Our Burning Planet Champ of the year in 2023 in recognition of her environmental activism.
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Good morning Dr. Ferial Adam,
Please can you confirm how or on what scientific basis do you determine:
1) that doing away with fossils fuels will change water issues as described by yourself in your article?
2) in order for alternative energy-sources:
2.1) how is these generated?
2.2) In the manufacture of things to provide alternative energies, how or what other damage is done in the long term to our environment?
2.3) has feasibility and viability studies been done and are you aware of these impacts?
Dr. Ferrial Adam’s, let me leave you to provide details to these simple questions. If you could email me your relevant report, I will find a professional that will either confirm your report or debunk it if it is a confused one.
All the best to you and all the readers over the festive season.
Some good questions Viv.
Water will slowly return to what it should be after the ANC goes and the people that know what they are doing return to help. I am one of them, a civil engineering professional that refuses to get involved with those morons that have broken South Africa, may they be broken as well!
Good article – as far as it goes. I am surprised that you can write an article about Water, particularly as it applies to domestic use as supplied by municipalities, without mentioning the work of the late Elinor Ostrom and her book, Managing the Commons. It is all very well advocating that “communities take charge of their water” but without drawing on the research of Ms. Ostrom, there is a high chance that the result will be a shambles. Well-intentioned perhaps, but a shambles nevertheless. Getting a utility right will not be easy, especially when a community based effort will inherit infrastructure in a very poor state of repair. Therefore, it will need a great deal more than a wish to have a better system. One of Ms. Ostrom’s 8 principles, is the need to be able to “nest” Common Pool Resources within other CPRs of different scales. I believe this is where a community could start. Wherever there are reasonably coherent communities that are determined to improve their water (or other utility) they could set up a CPR (using all Ms. Ostrom’s 8 principles) and negotiate with the water company up stream of them to supply water at a particular point – from a mains water pipe for instance. The CPR then takes over and is responsible for (a) paying the supplier for what they use (b) processing the water they have bought to make it reach the standards required by the community (c) distributing it and (d) charging for it. It won’t be easy, but worth it. Bruce Danckwerts CHOMA Zambia
But the science is not clear. That’s the thing.
I cannot see why you link “climate change” with the failing municipalities. They have nothing to do with each other. The fact that our rivers are full of ecoli due to failing municipalities has absolutely nothing to do with climate change. While I deplore the dire state of our municipalities I do not accept the constant fear mongering of the doomsday cultists. We are not all going to frizzle up and we are not going to “run out of water”.
One necessary thing is that we all start managing our own consumption – of water and of electricity. I grant that the changes per individual household will not make much difference, but if every household makes those changes then the effect is significant.
My household has halved their water consumption (expressed as liters per person per day) over the last year. We don’t suffer any real inconveniences. We don’t stink. We lost some plants out of the garden which were replaced with indigenous, drought resistant plants.
Shorter showers, less watering of lawns, maximising use of the dishwasher, reusing grey water from the shower, have been the main thrusts of our efforts, the pool is kept topped up enough so that the cleaner works and the marbelite is not exposed.
Imagine all homes in suburban Johannesburg halving their water usage. There’s a significant saving (including on your municipal bill) right there.
“The science of climate change is clear and demands urgent action”. Utter nonsense. The problems we face in this world are nothing to do with the changing of the climate (which is a natural occurrence). We need to get rid of the oligarchs, the WEFfies, the unelected billionaires, the social engineers, the unelected “leaders” (e.g. Europe’s von der Leyen).
There is no need for people to be without water, shelter or food. No need whatsoever. The real cause of these problems? The Kakistocracies!! Look at the cANCer!!! Billions upon billions upon billions of Rands STOLEN from us, from the poor people who naively thought the cANCer would look after them “come the revolution”. Politics my dear, politics, this is the REAL cause of food and water shortages/problems.
None of the challenges we face to water supply are actually linked to climate change. Most certainly no presently and based on IPCC reports unlikely in the future despite regular if not persistent claims thereof in the press.
Water challenges are caused by policy and implementation. Or rather the lack thereof.
The challenges of water are simple and the technology exists to deal with them. Capture, store, treat and distribute. What is required is money and that is a political decision. As for Climate Change, where is the data showing that floods and droughts have increased in frequency and severity? The IPCC says there isn’t any such data showing that our proclivity for fossil fuels is causing anything untoward. Of course blaming Climate Change for water issues is convenient for the authorities, such as Cape Town did after the “year zero” fiasco a few years ago. Remember we were told that “year zero” was now the new normal because we burned stuff except that it wasn’t.
Get the politicians to get off their backsides and provide funding for new dams, repair pipes and treatment works across the country and stop some of the enormous quantity of flood waters running into the sea and stop chasing the “CO2 caused it” chimera.
As one with no ‘scientific’ background, the only unscientific observation I would make, is that there seems to be quite few people, who have become aficionados of Trump’s ‘hoax’ school of thinking. I think there is/was a Trump ‘University’ also ? I also assume that the numerous ‘extreme’ weather occurrences featured in news reports over the past few years are all ‘fake’ ? Is it possible they were the product of AI ?
What utter bollocks