Improving water resource management in Richards Bay through scientific and technological collaboration

The deteriorating quality of raw water in South Africa, coupled with current water shortages, has created a need to protect the country’s water resources and ensure effective water and wastewater management. The CSIR and the City of uMhlathuze have partnered to improve water resource management across the city’s jurisdiction through the application of scientific and technological solutions.

The partnership between the CSIR and the municipality is viewed as a valuable approach to addressing water-related service delivery issues. Projects undertaken were aimed at identifying and addressing issues relating to various aspects of water provision and management. The identified primary issues pertained to improving natural resource management whereby the municipality enforced pollution prevention, water resource protection and rehabilitation measures as recommended by the CSIR. For instance, the CSIR developed a lake management plan for Lake Mzingazi, as well as a rehabilitation plan for a compromised stream within the municipality.