| Africa
According to the WMO report, The State of Climate Services 2021: Water, water-related hazards have increased in frequency over the past 20 years. Since 2000, flood-related disasters have risen by 134% compared with the two previous decades. The number and duration of droughts also increased by 29% over this same period. Most drought-related deaths occurred in Africa, indicating a need for stronger end-to-end warning systems for drought in that region. “We need to wake up to the looming water crisis,”
Taalas said.
South African update Despite improvements in reservoir levels across South Africa, the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) has reminded South Africans that it is still a water scarce country and encourages the public to continue using water wisely, sparingly, and in a more conservative manner. Reservoir levels across had experienced “minor
improvement” by 27 January 2022, compared with the same period in the previous week and year respectively. Figures released by DWS attributed the marginal rise to torrential rainfall in most parts of the country towards the end of January. By 27 January, the overall storage capacity of the country’s water levels sat at 95.2%, a minimal increase from the week before at 94.9% but a greater improvement on last year’s 77.3%. In particular the Mohale Dam in Lesotho continues to remain in a strong position at 68.3% - in comparison with 27.4% last year. Also in Lesotho, the Katse Dam was at 99.6%. During the same period last year it stood at 55.8%. In the City of Cape Town, stabilising dam levels
and steady water use rates were partly attributed to fewer visitors over the holiday period, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In response to suggestions that water supply constraints could be eased further, a spokesperson from the Department of Water and Sanitation noted that Cape Town dams were only able to maintain such levels due to good rainfall in recent years. It was stressed that it can never be communicated enough that South Africa is water- scarce country. In 2018 the region experienced severe drought when far-reaching water restrictions were imposed and the city narrowly avoided “Day Zero” when its water supplies would have run dry.
Averting dam collapse The near collapse of an earthfill dam in the South
African Limpopo province has highlighted the requirement for private dam owners to comply with dam safety regulations which enforce that safety inspections are carried out at least every five years. Safety concerns about the dam, which is owned by the provincial Department of Agriculture, was heightened when it was spilling at full capacity. Engineers employed under the Dam Safety unit of DWS managed to lower the dam level by breaking a part of the wall to avert overtopping. The near collapse follows two directives issued
recently by DWS to the provincial Department of Agriculture to propel them to comply with, and conduct dam safety inspections which should be carried out by an approved professional person.
The Department of Water and Sanitation said it “was faced with this situation due to non-compliance”. As such, it worked closely with the provincial disaster management centre and the provincial government to prevent dam collapse which could have been “catastrophic”.
Change the narrative During a visit to the South Africa’s North West Province,
Minister of the Department of Water and Sanitation Senzo Mchunu, urged for a change in the narrative on water service delivery in the region. During February 2022 he met with the Premier of the North West Province, Bushy Maape, and other water and sanitation stakeholders to discuss water challenges in the province and finding solutions to addressing them. Minister Mchunu emphasised that “water knows no boundaries” and that “local, provincial and the national government must work hand in glove in supplying water to all communities”. He said that on many occasions, municipalities complain about ageing infrastructure which is mainly caused by lack of capacity or lack of funding. All 25 dams in the province, Mchunu said, must encompass full management plans regarding infrastructure management, environment and leisure, business and tourism activities. He referred to this as an opportunity to generate revenue. However, he added that it remains “a worrying factor that some dam levels are still below average”.. “What we need to work towards is to ensure that
there is delivery of water to each household. This will lead to what we envisage: a change of the narrative around water and sanitation, that we are a government that does not care. We have to demonstrate the seriousness with which we take our work by ensuring that we deliver on the mandate that has been given to us as a sector”, Mchunu said.
Decarbonising Ghana A recent webinar has presented the latest FutureDAMS
research on hydropower dams and ways to decarbonise Ghana’s energy system consistent with Paris climate objectives. As Kuriakose et all explained, in 2019, biomass and
petroleum each provided 38% of Ghana’s energy, natural gas 18% and hydropower 6%. The researchers used three future energy scenarios to examine the role of the country’s dams in delivering on its Nationally Determined Contributions as part of climate mitigation and Paris commitments. Key conclusions from the research were that when considering emissions from reservoirs “Ghana’s planned dams will have a carbon intensity that, during the first decade of operation, exceeds that of coal power stations”. Furthermore, the full deployment of Ghana’s
proposed dams will consume a third of the country’s Paris-compliant carbon budget yet contribute to under 10% of the future electricity demand. The research concludes that: “Considering Ghana’s
current unconditional NDCs are not sufficient to deliver the Paris temperature objectives, energy efficiency and diversifying supply (from wind to floating solar panels on existing reservoirs) offers a lower cost and lower emissions energy future for Ghana than constructing more dams.” ●
Above: Limpopo Province in South Africa. The Department of Water and Sanitation was able to avert the collapse of a dam owned by the Department of Agriculture
References
IRENA and AfDB (2022), Renewable Energy Market Analysis: Africa and Its Regions – A Summary for Policy Makers, International Renewable Energy Agency and African Development Bank, Abu Dhabi and Abidjan. https://irena. org/publications/2022/Jan/ Renewable-Energy-Market- Analysis-Africa
www.gwp.org/en/GWP- SouthernAfrica/About- GWP-SAF/more/News/ make-investment-in-africa- water-security-a-priority- in-2022/
2021 State of Climate Services (WMO-No. 1278). Published by World Meteorological Organization https://library.
wmo.int/
index.php?lvl=notice_ display&id=21963#. YVxOUfdBxUO
www.dws.gov.za
Implications of hydro dams for decarbonising Ghana’s energy consistent with Paris climate objectives - The FutureDAMS Research Consortium. Jaise Kuriakose, Kevin Anderson, Deborah Darko and Emmanuel Obuobie. 17 May 2021.
https://www.futuredams.org/ implications-of-hydro-dams- for-decarbonising-ghanas- energy-consistent-with-paris- climate-objectives/
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