Development of tools for the sustainable water quality management in subtropical catchments subjected to multiple stressors.

Summary

South Africa has one of the most progressive and holistic water laws that aims to achieve a fair allocation of water for sustainable development. This Act focusses on required water quantity and quality to sustain ecosystem functioning and services. However only water quantity tools are well developed and implemented and there is a lack of quality assessment tools. As some land use practices coupled to abstraction and severe weather conditions due to climate change impact on both water quantity and quality with negative effects on ecosystem integrity and consequences for biodiversity, human and animal health, ecologically relevant bioassessment tools are needed. The focus is on the subtropical Incomati catchment with high socio-economic and ecological importance with the aim to develop and validate relevant tools for the monitoring of water quality and the modelling of risk areas in subtropical catchments as part of the regional regulatory framework. Whilst further developing capacity at NWU, the aim is to also train students and researchers at the newly created University of Mpumalanga to increase also their capacity for the conservation and management of water resources in the region. The participation of the water management agency in the study region (i.e. Incomati-Usuthu catchment management Agency, IUCMA) will ensure the testing and implementation of the model across the catchment, whilst training the IUCMA in its application will embed the model as a water resources management tool for this region exposed to multiple stressors.

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