Coping with drought: the experience of water sensitive urban design (WSUD) in the George Municipality

N Lottering,D Du Plessis,R Donaldson

doi:10.4314/wsa.v41i1.1

Abstract

This study investigated the extent of Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) activities in the George Municipality in the Western Cape Province, South Africa, and its impact on water consumption. The WSUD approach aims to influence design and planning from the moment rainwater is captured in dams, to when it is treated, and reticulated to consumers, and extending to the point of wastewater re-use, as well as stormwater use. The study identified 8 WSUD sub-activities stemming from 4 main WSUD activities, implemented by the George Local Municipality. Water debtors’ data were sourced in order to measure the effect of 3 of the 8 WSUD sub-activities on water consumption in selected areas. The analysis confirmed that the three WSUD sub-activities had a short-term impact on reducing water consumption in the suburbs where they were implemented. It is recommended that the municipality focus on improved planning and implementation of a diverse range of WSUD activities and implementing information and monitoring systems to evaluate the impact of these measures. Keywords : Drought relief strategies, George Municipality, integrated urban water management, South Africa, water sensitive urban design

Highlights

The unsustainability of urban water resource management was first addressed by the concept of integrated urban water management (IUWM), formulated by the Urban Water Resources Research Council of the American Society of Civil Engineers during the late 1960s and early 1970s (Mitchell, 2006)
The George Spatial Development Framework (GSDF) emphasized the need for measures such as the use of treated effluent from Waste Water Treatment Works (WWTWs), for irrigation and for filling the Garden Route Dam; the harvesting of stormwater; the recycling of greywater; the installation of watersaving devices, and, possibly, the design of a closed wastewater treatment system for domestic effluent
Running a similar regression for low-income debtors with a crosssectional sample of 2 305 debtors, each with a time series of 41 months, to generate a combined sample of 94 505 pooled observations, we found that the awareness campaign reduced water consumption by 0.52 kl whilst tariffs led to a reduction of 0.10 kl

Summary

Introduction

The unsustainability of urban water resource management was first addressed by the concept of integrated urban water management (IUWM), formulated by the Urban Water Resources Research Council of the American Society of Civil Engineers during the late 1960s and early 1970s (Mitchell, 2006). Various countries across the world responded with their own concepts, such as the USA with ‘low-impact development’, the UK with their ‘sustainable urban drainage system’ and New Zealand with ‘low impact urban design and development’. Australia responded with ‘water sensitive urban design’ (WSUD), a term coined by a group at Murdoch University in Perth, Western Australia. WSUD provides guidelines on how to improve water infrastructure design in the natural and built environment (Fane, 2005; Morison and Brown, 2011; Ashley et al, 2013). WSUD promotes the implementation of independent or main activities on various scales from small (1 house) to large (cityscale) urban developments which include new developments, existing and brownfield sites (Donofrio et al, 2009). The main WSUD activities are stormwater/drainage management, re-use of water, demand reduction techniques and greenroof installation (Donofrio et al, 2009)

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Results

Discussion

Conclusion