The perceptions of research values and priorities in water resource management from the 3rd Orange River Basin Symposium

Ft Buschke,S Esterhuyse

doi:10.4314/wsa.v38i2.10

Abstract

Research has played an important role in water resource management and a consensus on research objectives would increase the efficiency of these practices. In this paper we aimed to elicit the views of attendees of the 3rd Orange River Basin Symposium regarding water-related research, by using both quantitative and qualitative responses to a questionnairesurvey, and purposeful sampling methods. Overall, research was perceived to play an important role in water resource management and there was significant agreement on which sectors are responsible for carrying out this research. Although clear strengths in water resource management in southern Africa were identified, we found that most perceived weaknessesrelated to the lack of enforcement or to human resource constraints. Despite this fact, the identified research priorities, which were aligned to those of the Water Research Commission, tended to be technical in nature and would not address these perceived weaknesses. Our recommendations were that, by incorporating previously ignored sectors into research,such as private consultants and non-governmental organisations, and addressing human capacity and enforcement issues, unique and unexplored research opportunities could improve water resource management.

Highlights

The availability of water underpins the very social and economic fabric of the southern African sub-region (Hirji and Molapo, 2002; Toerien and Seaman, 2010)
Since consensus on objectives and/or methods increases performance by promoting interdisciplinary collaboration (Dess, 1987), this paper aims to provide some clarity on the perceived research priorities of various stakeholders involved in water resource management in southern Africa
Evaluation consisted of an inductive phase in which key themes were identified, followed by the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to generate judgements based on Results and discussion Overall, research was perceived to be of above-average importance across occupational sector and experience level (Fig. 1)

Summary

Introduction

The availability of water underpins the very social and economic fabric of the southern African sub-region (Hirji and Molapo, 2002; Toerien and Seaman, 2010). There are obvious incentives for effective water resource management. In the past, played an important role in addressing issues relating to water management, both nationally (Walmsley, 1992) and internationally (National Research Council USA, 2004). Scientists and practitioners have often identified human perceptions as primary determinants of success and failure of environmental plans (Mascia et al, 2003); so it would be beneficial for future water-related research to be aligned with these perceptions. Interdisciplinary research and cross-sector collaboration in integrated water resource management will only be possible if there is collective buy-in from all stakeholders. Since consensus on objectives and/or methods increases performance by promoting interdisciplinary collaboration (Dess, 1987), this paper aims to provide some clarity on the perceived research priorities of various stakeholders involved in water resource management in southern Africa

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion