Funders:                  uMngeni-uThukela Water Board

Time frame:            1 July 2024 – 31 December 2025

Contract value:       R 818 628

Project Team:          Dr Stefanie Schütte, Prof. Roland Schulze, Ms Futhi Vilakazi, Mr Nick Davis, Dr Katelyn Johnson, Mr Demian Mukansi

Collaborators:       

Context: Climate change is a key strategic risk that is threating the sustainability of the business of uMngeni-uThukela Water (UUW). As such, the organisation needs to implement the necessary measures to ensure effective response to the impacts of climate change. One of those measures is to undertake studies to understand how climate change is already affecting the mandate of the organisation and to understand the projected impacts of climate change on water security and water supply, which will in turn inform response strategies. Moreover, the insights derived from these studies play a crucial role in shaping informed response strategies, allowing the organisation to proactively adapt to the evolving environmental conditions and ensure the sustainability of its water-related initiatives.

Objectives: The objectives of the project include the following:

• To prepare an update of potential climate change impacts on relevant surface water resources related issues in the uMngeni-uThukela Water area of jurisdiction using outputs from recent CMIP5 GCMs as inputs to an appropriate hydrological model
• To assess projected climate change impacts on reference potential evaporation, rainfall, accumulated streamflows, catchment yield, design rainfall, design streamflow, as well as high and low flow sequence analysis
• To build capacity of the uMngeni-uThukela Water to be able to understand the climate model setup and hence an UUW employee who is currently enrolled for PhD in climate change will be developed under this project

Expected Outcomes:

• An update of the existing UUW Climate Model to cover the whole of KZN, including land use in the model and capacitate the UUW selected personnel on model setup and associated training.

To determine potential climate change impacts on relevant surface water resources related issues in the uMngeni-uThukela Water area of jurisdiction using an ensemble of GCMs and an appropriately configured hydrological model.

Funders:                  Water Research Commission

Time frame:           1 April 2023 – 31 March 2027

Project Team:         Mr Richard Kunz (Project Leader), Prof. Tafadzwa Mabhaudhi, Dr Shaeden Gokool.

Collaborators:        Department of Agriculture, Land Reform & Rural Development (DALRRD)

Context: According to the Food and Agricultural Organisation, three staples (rice, maize and wheat) provide more than half of the world’s food. Only 12 plants and 5 animal species provide 75% of the world’s food, which has resulted in homogeneous farming landscapes and diets across the globe. This situation needs to change by increasing crop diversification, which is a key agronomic strategy to help reduce the negative impacts of intensive monocrop agricultural systems. Improving agro-biodiversity can be achieved by expanding the production of underutilised indigenous crops.

Underutilised indigenous crops thrive under low-input and stressed (water and heat) growing conditions that typically limit agricultural productivity and thus, are well adapted to marginal environments. They have potential for cultivation during drought conditions and are considered more water use efficient than other conventional crops. Many underutilised crops are highly nutritious and thus, can contribute to healthier diets, particularly among the rural poor. Despite these advantages, underutilised indigenous crops continue to occupy the peripheries of mainstream agriculture.

Historically, the uptake of underutilised crops for inclusion into existing farming systems has been limited by a lack of information on, inter alia, their yield potential, water use characteristics and agronomic requirements. This was exacerbated by the low level of research funding afforded to underutilised crops in the past. However, the situation has changed considering the Water Research Commission has funded almost three decades of research related to underutilised crops. This investment has resulted in, inter alia, the: (i) identification of prioritised crops that exhibit the most potential; (ii) establishment of field experiments that measured crop yield and water use; and (iii) successful calibration of FAO’s AquaCrop simulation model for numerous underutilised crops. Therefore, the main aim of this project is to leverage off previous WRC-funded research in order to develop an extensive database related to underutilised crops currently grown in South Africa. The crop database will be developed using output simulated by the AquaCrop model.

Objectives:  The main objectives of this research project include the following:

• Consolidate locally calibrated crop parameters for numerous underutilised indigenous crops.
• Develop and implement a fast and efficient method to run AquaCrop at a national scale.
• For each crop, perform model runs to derive seasonal crop yield and water use for different planting dates and plant densities and for both water- and non-stressed growing conditions.
• Develop an extensive database of statistics generated from modelled output, together with other useful metrics (e.g. crop and nutritional water productivity).
• Develop a web-based utility to disseminate the information stored in the online crop database.
• Demonstrate how the database can be used to promote the cultivation of underutilised indigenous crops in South Africa.

Expected Outcomes:

An analysis of stored yield and water productivity data will be used to generate land suitability maps and production guidelines for selected crops. Hence, the main intention of this crop database is to provide farmers with the necessary information to make informed decisions regarding crop choices. The easily accessible crop database will address (i.e. remove) the lack of access to production information about unexploited crops, thus making their uptake and adoption far less risky for farmers. This will hopefully promote the cultivation of underutilised crops, which is the catalyst needed to transform current agricultural landscapes in South Africa. Expanding the cultivation of nutrient-dense, drought and heat tolerant crops that are currently underutilised will help to strengthen food and nutrition security, improve dietary diversity, alleviate rural poverty and overall, increase the resilience and sustainability of current farming systems.

Funders:                 Water Research Commission and University of KwaZulu-Natal

Time frame:           1 April 2023 – 31 March 2025

Project Team:         Mr Simphiwe Ngcobo (Project Leader), Professor Jeff Smithers, Ms K Chetty, Ms Faye Brownell, Dr Jim Taylor, Dr Mark Graham, Mr Ayanda Lepheana, Ms Sim’lindile Mahlaba, Mr Stuart Warner, Ms Ntombifuthi Vilakazi, Mr Duncan Hay, Ms Tanisha Curtis.

Collaborators:        GroundTruth and UMngeni Water

Context:                  The water resources in South Africa are increasingly under pressure and are showing a downward trajectory in terms of their current condition and state (as evidenced by the most recent State of Environment reports and various press articles). The ability to measure the condition of these critical freshwater resources has also to be contextualized against a deteriorating central and provincial governments’ ability and capacity to monitor and report on these resources. This is against a backdrop of increased pressure on these resources from an increasing population, developments and reduced capacity to regulate these impacts from within relevant government institutions. Recent and historical Green Drop Reports and papers highlight this trend, and particularly the extent to which WWTW in SA are dysfunctional and have significant impacts on the quality of surface water in the country (more than half are failing!). This is not isolated and likely to be a broader phenomenon extending beyond SA into at least the SADC region if not larger geographical areas. It is against this backdrop that this project aims to improve the potential for better water resource management in SA through the consolidation of Citizen Science (CS) generated data, tools and information to engage with all sectors in society and to positively influence the policy and appreciation of water resources across all levels of society and governance of these critical resources. Through situated and engaged research processes this project is designed to support, research and better understand public mobilisation through citizen science processes. Such research processes are designed to support and strengthen the role of State, Provincial and Local Municipality structures as these relate to water management.

Objectives:  The objectives of this project include the following:

• To conduct a situation analysis on the use of CS in SA, including where and how CS is currently being used in SA, its credibility as a water quality monitoring method, as well as a cost efficacy review of CS.
• To determine what crucial CS data is required to ensure credible and scientific water resource quality to support SDG6 reporting.
• To determine the barriers to applicability of CS at a national level and for SDG6 monitoring.
• To determine how youth monitors can contribute to the ‘learning to earning’ pathway for young people, including incentivisation of CS more broadly.
• To advise on the adequacy and gaps of CS monitoring tools.
• To produce a preliminary State of Water Resources from a CS perspective within the current State of Rivers report landscape.
• To make recommendations on how to strengthen CS in water quality monitoring and to explore the opportunities for scaling CS.

Funders:                 Water Research Commission (WRC)

Time frame:           01 April 2023 – 31 March 2026

Project Team:        Dr Maqsooda Mahomed (Project Leader), Dr Shaeden Gokool, Mr Richard Kunz, Mr Kyle Reddy, Prof Alistair Clulow, Prof Tafadzwa Mabhaudhi, Mr Vivek Naiken, Mrs Kalastrie Chetty, Dr Mbulisi Sibanda

Collaborators:       University of Western Cape

Context: Globally, agricultural food production systems are unable to keep pace with existing food demands. The diversification of the agricultural food production system through the mainstreaming of neglected and underutilised crops (NUCs) has been widely recognized as a pragmatic and promising approach to address this situation. Although the increased production of NUCs can play a major role in improving food and nutrition security as well as stimulating socio-economic growth, this potential can only be fulfilled if high quality production levels of these crops can be achieved. While there are several factors that may contribute to low yields and inferior product quality in many farmer’s fields, poor weed management is often the primary contributing factor. In recent times integrated weed management (IWM) has become the preferred method of controlling or managing weeds, with the use of UAVs featuring quite prominently for this purpose. IWM has been advocated as an alternate approach to mitigate the harmful impacts of conventional methods by adopting a more efficient and sustainable approach which is centred on improving the understanding and quantifying crop-weed competition dynamics to develop customised weed management strategies. Considering the versatility and potential of UAV technologies for IWM in concert with recent advancements in machine learning and big data geospatial processing platforms, in this study we aim to accurately identify and map the spatial distribution of weeds as well as understand and quantify the impacts of weed water use on crop health, quality, yield and available water resources. It is envisaged that this information will then serve to guide more effective weed management in the future.

Objectives:  The objectives of this project include the following:

• To provide a literature review on the impacts of crop-weed competition on crop yields and quality, as well as the potential of IWM to mitigate these impacts.
• To develop and setup a trial that will enable the impacts of crop-weed interactions to be quantified through traditional and UAV-based approaches.
• To map and identify the spatial distribution of weeds during the various NUC growth stages.
• To quantify the water use of NUCs and weeds using UAV imagery.

Funders:                 Water Research Commission

Time frame:           1 April 2023 – 31 March 2026

Project Team:         Dr Daniel Kibirige (Project Leader), Dr Shaeden Gokool, Richard Kunz, Dr Maqsooda Mahomed, Prof Jeff Smithers, Prof Tafadzwanashe Mabhaudhi, Sipho Magagula, Dr Stefanie Schütte, Kershani Chetty, Nicholas Byaruhanga and Glen Mkhonta

Context: In South Africa, Flood Early Warning Systems (FEWS) are of paramount importance due to the nation’s vulnerability to periodic, devastating floods. These events are exacerbated by a combination of factors, including erratic rainfall patterns, rapid urbanization, and the legacy of inadequate infrastructure in many areas. The consequences of flooding are severe, with loss of life, property damage, and disruption of critical services. As such, FEWS play a crucial role in mitigating these risks by providing advance notice to residents, authorities, and relief agencies. Therefore, this project aims to fill the gap in KZN by developing an operational FEWS, which will serve as a model for integrating technology with local expertise, which is particularly tailored to the country’s diverse and dynamic flood risk landscape.

Objectives:  The objectives of this project include the following:

• To undertake a systematic literature review on existing global FEWS and the input data/models required for FEWS.
• To develop a FEWS through enhanced hydrological and hydraulic modelling in KwaZulu Natal in pre-determined flood-prone regions with the potential to upscale to the national scale.
• To review, test and calibrate the FEWS and apply the newly developed methodology to additional WMAs or District municipalities.
• To develop user/training manuals of the FEWS and train users of WMAs or DMs to use the FEWS tool.

Funders:                 Water Research Commission

Time frame:           01 April 2020 – 31 December 2024

Contract value:      R 2 500 000

Project Team:         Mr Richard Kunz (Project Leader from 1 September 2022), Dr David Clark (Project Leader up to 30 August 2022), Mr JP Calitz, Ms Tinisha Chetty, Dr Shaeden Gokool, Mr Mark Horan, Prof. Roland Schulze, Prof. Jeff Smithers, Dr Stefanie Schütte, Dr Michele Toucher

Collaborators:        Central University of Technology, Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS), South African Sugarcane Research Institute (SASRI), South African Weather Service (SAWS), University of Pretoria

Context: Assessments of water resources and crop production for the whole of South Africa are frequently based on estimates produced using deterministic hydrological and crop models, due to either insufficient measured data, or the need to determine the impact of future climate scenarios. Such large-scale configurations of simulation models are in themselves data intensive and dependent on good quality data inputs. For many years, the Southern African Quinary Catchments Database (QnCDB) and its predecessor, the Southern African Quaternary Catchments Database (QNDB) have, in conjunction with models, provided a valuable assessment tool. The availability of newer and finer resolution foundational datasets and the need to extend the QnCDB’s integrated climate database (1950-1999) with an additional 20 years of data formed the rationale for updating the QnCDB.

Objectives: Develop a collection of national datasets for application in water resource related modelling assessments and flood estimation and to provide access to these via an online data portal system. The proposed datasets include: Quinary Catchment boundaries, sub-Quaternary Altitudinal Zones, Quinary level river reach attributes, topographic characteristics, updated daily climate data (1950-2019), hydrological characteristics for various vegetation types and land cover/uses classes, soil hydrological characteristics at terrain unit level, and flood assessment attributes.

Expected Outcomes: Greater consistency and reduced duplication of effort in water resource assessments in South Africa through the provision of and access to a collection of useful and up-to-date national datasets.

The CWRR will continue to use its experience and expertise to provide useful and accessible national datasets for use in hydrological and crop modelling.

Funders:                 Water Research Commission    

Time frame:           1 April 2022 – 31 March 2026

Contract value:      R 2 000 000

Project Team:         Dr Shaeden Gokool (Project Leader), Prof. Alistair Clulow, Prof. Tafadzwa Mabhaudhi, Dr Mbulisi Sibanda (UWC), Mr Vivek Naiken, Mr Richard Kunz, Ms Kershani Chetty and Dr Maqsooda Mahomed

Collaborators:        University of the Western Cape

Context: In many developing countries around the world, smallholder farms are not only major contributors to agricultural production and food security, but are also one of the main drivers of socio-economic growth. Despite their relative importance, smallholder farms generally lack the resources of their larger-scale commercial counterparts. Subsequently, their agricultural productivity potential is often not realised, resulting in these farms not effectively contributing to addressing food security and socio-economic challenges. In order to remedy this situation, smallholder farmers in developing countries require innovative, evidence-based and low-cost solutions that can assist them in optimising their productivity.

Recently, precision agricultural practices facilitated by the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has been gaining traction in the agricultural sector and hold a great deal of potential for smallholder farm applications owing to the unique characteristics of these technologies. Furthermore, advances in geospatial cloud computing have opened new and exciting possibilities in the remote sensing arena. In light of these recent developments, the focus of this study is to explore and demonstrate the utility of using geospatial cloud computing and multispectral UAV imagery to enhance the productivity of smallholder farms by mapping cultivated areas, assessing the health of these crops, as well as quantifying their water use and productivity.

Objectives: The objectives of the project include the following:

• To provide a literature review on the use of UAVs as a tool to facilitate precision agriculture relating to spatio-temporal crop growth dynamics.
• Develop and setup advanced image analysis techniques in Google Earth Engine (GEE) to develop reproducible and adaptable data processing and analysis procedures.
• Provide seasonal maps of Land Use/Land Cover (LULC) to monitor spatio-temporal changes.
• Validate (against in-situ observations) remote sensing-based methods which can be employed to estimate evapotranspiration (ET) using multispectral UAV imagery.
• Assess spatio-temporal crop health dynamics using vegetation indices that can provide information such as vegetation density, leaf chlorophyll content and water stress.
• Facilitate knowledge transfer, through the development of web-based interactive and spatially explicit maps of crops that can be readily shared online and are relatively easy to interpret.

Expected Outcomes:

• Development of web-based interactive and spatially explicit maps to visualise and track temporal dynamics of key variables of interest at the plot level (land use/land cover, evapotranspiration and vegetation health) in order to provide essential information which is easy to comprehend and critical for near-real time management interventions, as well as for planning and management in the future.
• Improved management of resources within smallholder farms to reduce wasteful use of limited resources, allowing them to be reallocated to areas in greater need.
• Gender and youth mainstreaming will enable the empowerment of this vulnerable group of people, better equipping them to deal with many of the challenges they currently face or are likely to experience in the future.
• Capacity building through participatory research activities.
• Facilitate better opportunities for job creation through increased crop productivity in rural communities.

The adoption of precision agricultural practices facilitated by the use of UAV technologies has the potential to radically transform the African agricultural sector, particularly in the case of the smallholder farmer.

Funders:                 Water Research Commission    

Time frame:           1 April 2022 – 31 March 2025

Contract value:      R 1 100 000

Project Team:         Prof. Seifu Kebede Gurmessa (Project Leader), Prof. Simon Lorentz, Dr Michele Toucher, Dr Daniel Kibrigie, Mr Vivek Naiken, Mr Joss Cahi, Ms Thobeka Mpungose, Mr Zama Mkhize

Collaborators:        SAEON, Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife

Context: This project will investigate surface water and groundwater interaction at multiple spatial scales (from small plot to catchment scale) in the uMngeni and uThukela catchments. We will use tracers/isotope hydrology as our principal tool to meet the objectives/aims of the proposed work.

Objectives: The research aims to decipher the mechanism of groundwater movement in hillslopes, in small forested watersheds, and at catchment scale. Three sites, namely, the Cathedral Peak, Fountainhill Estate and the uMngeni and uThukela Catchments, all with long-history of hydrological monitoring, will be used as case study sites. The Cathedral Peak and Fountainhill Estate sites will inform hydrology model algorithm development through conceptual/mechanistic understanding of processes. The regional level surface-ground water interaction study in the uMngeni and uThukela Catchments will inform water resources management practices in the region (e.g. catchment protection practices, groundwater recharge zonation and protection, pollution control, etc.).

Outcomes: The following outcomes are expected: (i) conceptual model of groundwater movement in hillslope mapped using isotopes, and (ii) database on isotopic composition of rainfall, runoff, soil moisture and groundwaters.

Traditionally, management of water resources has focused on surface water or groundwater as if they were separate entities. At catchment scale, most rainfall-runoff models focus on the simulation of surface runoff and use over-simplified representation of baseflow/groundwater processes, thus resulting in poor model performance when simulating low flow statistics. This project aims to bridge these gaps.

Funders:                 International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)     

Time frame:           2021 – 2026

Contract value:      R 270 000

Project Team:         Prof. Seifu Kebede Gurmessa (Project Leader), Prof. Simon Lorentz, Dr Daniel Kibrigie, Mr Simphiwe Ngcobo

Context: Mining is the foundation of the modern-day economy of South Africa. It is the source of 24% of GDP, employs 17% of the workforce and attracts 65% of foreign direct Investment. At least 1 000 mines are operational, and their water use equals that of the water use of the country’s entire population. Although using only 3% of water consumption in South Africa, the mining sector remains challenged by water scarcity. South Africa has almost 6 000 abandoned mines, of which many contribute to uncontrolled acid mine drainage (AMD). Mines thus pollute water resources and water scarcity limits the expansion or the start of new mines.

Objectives:  This project aims to employ isotope hydrology tool to address key water related operational challenges (dewatering, pollution, mine flooding) related to coal, mineral, sand and other mines. It further aims to assess the water quality impacts of the selected mine on adjacent areas. The region is characterised by the presence of several critical biodiversity reserves located adjacent to active and abandoned mines.  The project will seek to create strong partnership and stakeholder engagement with mines, national parks, local communities, water utilities etc.

Expected Outcomes: An assessment of water challenges in mines in KZN.

Isotopes of water are proven tools in determining the hydraulic connection between water bodies, detecting origin of groundwaters, and determining the velocity of groundwater flow.  However, compared to their use in the water resources management sector, there is limited use of isotopes managing water related challenges in the mining sector. This project aims to demonstrate the usefulness of isotopes in addressing key water related operational challenges in a coal mine in KZN. The isotope tools may be suited to answer a number of water related operational questions.

Funders:                 WWF-SA

Time frame:           1 June 2022 – 31 January 2025

Contract value:      R 80 500

Project Team:         Dr Rebecka Henriksson

Collaborators:        Institute of Natural Resources (Dr Brigid Letty, Ms Zinhle Nxumalo), Mahlathini Development Foundation (Ms Erna Kruger, Mr Michael Malinga), WWF-SA (Samir Randera-Rees)

Context: The Upper Thukela region within the central and northern Drakensberg Water Source areas is suffering a severe and increasing challenge of water insecurity impacting on both built and ecological infrastructure. There is a need to maintain an enabling environment for integrated planning, co-learning and collaboration between stakeholders in this catchment. The primary aim of the Northern Drakensberg Collaborative is to establish better resourced communities of practice that are involved with managing water and natural resources infrastructure (both built and ecological) to improve local governance and capacity for sustainable management and regenerative production value chains to enable improved sustainability and provide for mechanisms for improvement of freshwater quality and quantity.

 Objectives:

• A functional water source forum with a coherent vision, strategy and implementation process.
• Involvement of a range of key role players in the development of coherent policies, strategies, targets, programmes, governance structures and monitoring and evaluation for improved water stewardship.
• CoPs focused on different thematic areas within the process, e.g. governance, stewardship implementation and funding, built and ecological water infrastructure, climate change adaptation and mitigation, monitoring and evaluation.
• Targeted improvement in a set of chosen stewardship indicators.
• Rangeland restoration and management to demonstrate benefits in terms of increasing infiltration and reducing run-off.
• Development of frameworks for blended finance and long-term sustainability.

This project builds on the activities of the SANBI Living Catchment Project, for which the convenor team (INR, UKZN-CWRR and MDF) engaged a large and diverse group of stakeholders to work towards a common purpose to address water related sustainability challenges in the Northern Drakensberg.

Funders:                 South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI)

Time frame:           1 July 2024 – 30 March 2025

Contract value:      R 1 059 338

Project Team:         Prof. Roland Schulze, Nicholas Davis

Collaborators:        Dr Stefanie Schütte, Dr Nicholas Rivers-Moore, Prof. Simon Lorentz, UKZN

Context: Water resources, which are already under pressure in South Africa because of growing water demand, will be under even greater pressure in the future. This is a result of both climatic and non-climatic factors that include changes in land uses, in land management practices and in a projected changed climate.

The overall objective of this research is the development of a phased, detailed, updateable and multi-purpose hydrological modelling system which can be applied across South Africa in answering key water related questions of the landscape and the waterscape which have been identified within South Africa by SANBI, with the system able to operate at multiple time and spatial resolutions and for present and future time periods.

More specifically four hydrological issues, identified by SANBI will be addressed, viz.  modelling daily water temperatures in South African rivers, modelling daily sediment yields from the South African landscape and waterscape, modelling hydrological impacts of invasive alien plants on streamflows in South Africa and modelling hydrological impacts across South Africa of negative land management practices on streamflows (e.g. overgrazing, veld burning) and of positive land management practices (e.g. contouring, mulching, tillage practices).

Objectives: The focus of this 2-phased project will be at national scale with, however, more detailed local studies at locations identified by SANBI, and for historical as well as projected climate change scenarios.

This project will develop a detailed, updateable and multi-purpose hydrological modelling system which can be applied across South Africa in answering key water related questions of the landscape and the waterscape which have been identified within South Africa by SANBI, with the system able to operate at multiple time and spatial resolutions and for present and future time periods.

Funders:                 Royal Academy of Engineering, UK

Time frame:           1 January 2024 – 31 December 2024

Contract value:      £ 50 000

Project Team:         Prof. Jeff Smithers, Dr Thomas Kjeldsen, Prof. Kobus Plessis, Prof. Jaco Gericke, Dr Jaco Pieterse, Dr Ione Loots, Dr Jaco Pietersen, Dr Katelyn Johnson, Mr Zacharia Maswuma, Mr Emmanuel Nyflis

Collaborators:        University of Bath (UK), National Flood Studies Programme, University of Stellenbosch, University of Pretoria, Central University of Technology, Department of Water and Sanitation, GroundTruth

Context: The National Floods Programme (NFSP) in South Africa by the South African was initiated by the Council on Large Dam (SANCOLD) and the Water Research Commission (WRC) and the NFSP is supported by the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) and the South African Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL). The NFSP is focused on modernising methods for design flood estimation in South Africa and on capacity development, both in industry and in academia. Since the initiation of the NFSP in 2014, more than 23 Masters and Doctorial studies and eight research projects have been completed and the results and information from these studies need to be transformed into design tools for industry to use.

 Objectives:

• To support national and international collaboration between academics and industry
• To support communication and collaboration between researchers and industry
• To develop flood risk assessment capacity in industry
• Transform outputs from research undertaken by the NFSP to date into software tools and products for use by industry.
• Collate and make accessible data, information and methods for flood risk assessment in practice.

This project will develop flood risk estimation capacity in academia and industry, support international collaborations, transforms selected research outputs into tools for industry and populate an online portal of data, information and methods for the NFSP.