Water security for all in the uMhlathuze catchment

The uMhlathuze catchment in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal region faces critical water security challenges, encompassing both quantity and quality issues. These challenges are closely tied to land use activities such as mining, agriculture, and industry, which put significant pressure on water resources. Unregulated overuse further exacerbates the situation, compounded by the impacts of climate change.

The severity of these issues became even more evident during the 2016 drought, which severely reduced water availability in the catchment. The drought had a profound impact on the Goedertrouw Dam, a vital water source for the uMhlathuze region, underscoring the urgent need for sustainable water management practices.

UWASP: A Collaborative Effort to Strengthen Water Security in the uMhlathuze Region

This led to the creation of the uMhlathuze Water Stewardship Partnership (UWASP), established to tackle water security challenges in the uMhlathuze region. The partnership focuses on improving water management and availability through collaborative resource management while enhancing livelihoods through strategic climate adaptation initiatives.

UWASP was formed by key stakeholders, including GIZ’s International Water Stewardship Programme (IWaSP)—now the Natural Resources Stewardship Programme (NatuReS)—alongside the National Business Initiative (NBI), Strategic Water Partners Network (SWPN), and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Prominent local businesses such as Tongaat Hulett, Mondi South Africa, Grindrod, Transnet, and Richards Bay Minerals, as well as government entities like the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) and the Pongola-uMzimkhulu Proto-Catchment Management Agency, also played an integral role in its formation.

By unlocking the value of water, the partnership delivers social, economic, and environmental benefits. The partnership´s vision is an “effectively managed uMhlathuze catchment that supports water security for all”. To realize this vision, UWASP adopts a collaborative and inclusive approach, fostering consensus among stakeholders to develop shared solutions and actionable strategies to address critical water resource challenges.

Building Climate Resilience in the uMhlathuze Catchment

The UWASP is advancing a five-year strategy (2024 –2029) to strengthen climate resilience in the catchment by enhancing water governance, improving service delivery, and fostering green economy skills. Key focus areas of the strategy include :

• Enhancing the management of the freshwater coastal lakes and surface water dams that provide for the needs of uMhlathuze’s population.
• Supporting water use efficiency and reducing water loss amongst downstream users.
• Facilitating agricultural water stewardship and irrigation efficiency.
• Securing ecological infrastructure through invasive species clearing and wetland rehabilitation.
• Developing community water-related champions, entrepreneurs and micro enterprises.

To support these efforts, NatuReS, WWF, and NBI partnered with GroundTruth to conduct a scoping study to assess the feasibility of grey-green infrastructure project interventions to address water security challenges in the uMhlathuze catchment. The project aimed to contribute to the overall strategic vision and the five-year focus areas of UWASP by increasing the climate resilience of the uMhlathuze catchment to water-related climate change impacts, whilst addressing environmental and socio-economic development challenges in the catchment. Therefore, the scoping study evaluated the financial, social, economic and ecological feasibility of grey-green infrastructure interventions in the uMhlathuze catchment areas.

Proposed Grey-Green Interventions: Key Outcomes of the Study

Melmoth Dams: Melmoth Dams are a key water supply for the eMthonjaneni area for domestic and industrial use. The following interventions were proposed to improve the water quality and quantity of downstream users in the catchment; (i) the removal of the problematic bush encroachment, Invasive Alien Plants removal, (ii) improved buffer zone management and (iii) re-vegetation of indigenous trees/vegetation.

Nkandla Landfill Site and Cemetery: The ‘Inkandla Landfill Site’ is located in the Nkandla local Municipality and includes the landfill and the wastewater treatment ponds. The following interventions were proposed as measures to preserve the health of the Goedertrouw dam; (i) enhancement of the existing wastewater treatment facility and (ii) enhancement of ecosystem services within the receiving freshwater ecosystem

Empangeni Catchment Management: This site focuses on the Mpangeni, Niwe and Ndabayakhe Lake, which flow directly into the uMhlathuze River. These lakes provide key ecosystem services for the Empangeni catchment including flood attenuation, sediment trapping and water for domestic use. The proposed interventions include (i) sustainable management of agricultural activities around the lake,(ii) management of inflow streams into the lakes through  litter booms and sediment fences in upstream channels, and (iii) freshwater management which can include clearing of invasive alien plants  and improving stormwater management.

Integrating Green Infrastructure for a Just and Inclusive Future

In addition to enhancing ecological outcomes, these interventions also tackle socio-economic challenges, contributing to a broader socio-ecological transformation. This transformation embodies a shift toward harmonizing economic development with social and environmental goals, exemplified by the expansion of the green economy and the growing emphasis on integrating green infrastructure with traditional grey infrastructure.

Harnessing the benefits of green infrastructure also plays a key role in supporting a Just Transition, i.e. greening the economy in a way that is equitable, inclusive and just for all actors of society. For the identified sites this could, for instance:

• Socio-economic opportunities for surrounding local communities: The surrounding communities are characterised by high poverty levels and high levels of unemployment. Creating opportunities in the restoration economy (e.g. alien invasive clearing, management of bush encroachment, and rehabilitation of wetlands) will create new socio-economic benefits including for example job creation and capacity development, especially for the most vulnerable groups of society.
• Social security – Strengthening the resilience of communities, particularly vulnerable groups in low income and informal settlement, through the creation of income generation opportunities and capacity building.
• Climate adaption and resilience – Restoration of the wetland ecosystems will improve water security for downstream water users, and enhance water supply for everyone, especially for vulnerable groups. It will also enhance the flood attenuation capacity upstream, which will help to buffer the settlements from floods.
• Sustainable urban development – Enhancing the functioning of ecosystems in the catchment will introduce a level of holistic development by harnessing green and grey infrastructure, which could become an opportunity for the municipalities to replicate and up-scale

What´s next?

As a next step, these results will now be further unpacked by UWASP to design interventions for these sites and find potential funders for them to support a water secure and socially inclusive future for the uMhlathuze catchment.