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Posted by: Saving Water SA (Cape Town, South Africa) – partnered with Water Rhapsody conservation systems – 06 Dec 2011
Efforts to establish water as an agenda item in its own right in climate change negotiations are gaining momentum in Durban, South Africa. Water experts say doing this will lead to a greater focus on developing policy, and attract more resources into the water sector through adaptation programmes.
 As rainfall patterns change, Africa is facing major crises “For every one of us, the first thing you use when you wake up in the morning is water, and when we are going to bed, it is water. Yet, it’s taken for granted,” says Chris Moseki, research manager at the Water Research Commission (WRC) in South Africa. WRC is a member of the Global Water Partnership (GWP) – a global alliance of organisations working on water issues.
Access to water is an urgent issue here in the Southern Africa region, where nearly 100 million people lack adequate access to water. Modelling by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in South Africa shows the region will become hotter and drier over the next 50 to 100 years, putting farms, industry, domestic water supply and natural ecosystems at risk.
International water experts and policy makers are concerned that planning for changes to water availability is not getting the prominence it deserves. Bai-Mass Taal, the Executive Secretary of the African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW), says they are working to raise the profile of water within the framework of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
“We are saying to the parties, look: we appreciate what you are doing in other sectors, but without addressing water directly, all of that will be in vain,” says Taal. Continue reading Raising the profile of water
Posted by: Saving Water SA (Cape Town, South Africa) – partnered with Water Rhapsody conservation systems – 05 January 2011
The heavy rains over the past few weeks have been a welcomed development in water-strapped parts of the country, however, the Free State Agriculture Department has warned of an imminent outbreak of Rift Valley [...]
Posted by: Saving Water SA (Cape Town, South Africa) – partnered with Water Rhapsody conservation systems – 04 January 2011
The Gariep Dam, the largest dam in South Africa, is 107 percent full with an outflow of 1670 cubic metres per second.
Dept of water affairs urges caution in the vicinity of the [...]
Posted by: Saving Water SA (Cape Town, South Africa) – partnered with Water Rhapsody conservation systems – 06 December 2010
Tens of thousands of migrants pouring into Cape Town are forcing authorities to rethink the city’s water supply strategy.
 Migration growth is now "16 000 households per annum" at 5 people per household “There are quite large numbers of people coming in and the city needs to review its water-use growth strategy,” department of water affairs’ Western Cape chief director, Rashid Khan, told Sapa.
He said assumptions made by Cape Town’s water planners in 2007 were “now being overtaken by some serious developments, that is (population) growth”.
His remarks followed an announcement by the department that it was “exploring initiatives to ensure that water use in and around Cape Town does not outstrip supply in the near future”.
It had recently learned that “water use may be growing faster than anticipated”, despite significant successes achieved by the city in reducing water usage.
“An increase in demand could have serious implications for the supply area, as the next augmentation project may well have to be fast-tracked to ensure an adequate supply of water to every city, town and industry that gets its water from the Western Cape Water Supply System (WCWSS). Continue reading Water rethink as migrants pour into Cape Town
Posted by: Saving Water SA (Cape Town, South Africa) – partnered with Water Rhapsody conservation systems – 26 October 2010
A severe drought has dropped water levels on a major Amazon tributary to their lowest point since officials began keeping records more than a century ago, the government reported on Monday, cutting off dozens of communities who depend on the river for work and transportation.
 A municipal worker cleans up garbage left behind by the receding Rio Negro river Floating homes along the Rio Negro now rest on muddy flats, and locals have had to modify boats to run in shallower waters in a region without roads. Some riverbanks have caved in, although no injuries have been reported. Enormous fields of trash and other debris have been revealed by the disappearing waters.
The drought is hurting fishing, cattle, agriculture and other businesses, prompting authorities to declare a state of emergency in nearly 40 municipalities. Amazonas state officials said more than 60 000 families have been affected by the drought.
The government has distributed about 600 tons of food, water and medicine, much of it by helicopter to isolated villages.
“It is a difficult situation for the community,” resident Josimar Peixoto told Globo TV. “The families are struggling here.”
The government’s geological service said on Monday that the Rio Negro was measured at a depth of 13.63m the previous day near the jungle city of Manaus, the lowest since a measuring system was implemented in 1902.
Manaus, in northern Brazil, is where the Rio Negro is at its deepest and where it merges with the Amazon River – meaning some places upstream are nearly completely dry.
The previous low was 13.64m, recorded in 1963. Continue reading Severe drought on Amazon tributary
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