World Water Week: reflections from a South African

WORLD WATER WEEK:

reflections from a South African

Oudi Kgomongwe served on the Young Scientific Programme Committee for World Water Week 2022 in Stockholm, Sweden. Here are her thoughts.

Oudi Kgomongwe is a professional earth scientist that served on the Young Scientific Programme Committee for World Water Week 2022

Fresh water has exceeded the planetary safe limit. To prevent this tipping point, we need to start seeing and valuing water,” said Dr Lan Wang-Erlandsson, researcher at the Stockholm Resilience Centre, to a full house of water change-makers at this year’s World Water Week opening address in Stockholm.

Value of water

There were more than 300 sessions on the theme ‘Seeing the Unseen: The Value of Water’. They were organised into three categories: the value of water for people; the value of water for nature and climate change; the financial and economic value of water.

It was made clear that water is a unique natural resource and means different things to different people. As a result, the perception of the values attributed to water and its related benefits can be highly subjective. The monetary value of water has been arguably the most dominant and easier of the valuations of water for the longest of time. This has often led to the exclusion of the other values of water that are difficult to put a cost or price to – the intangible values. South Africa is not alone in experiencing water challenges: from the recordbreaking drought that caused some rivers in China to dry up affecting hydropower and shipping, to the dire conditions in the Colorado River Basin dropping to record low levels in the US, and the severe flooding in Pakistan affecting 33 million people. These events coupled with climate change put a spotlight on the value of water for nature and climate change.

Sandra Pastel, 2021 Stockholm Water Prize Laureate, explained how we got here. “We often don’t think about water beyond the fact that its coming from a tap. Understanding where our water comes from – the water we are taking a shower with was from a river (or an aquifer) and the life that lives in that river (or ecosystems dependent on the aquifer).” Simply put, humans are using too much water, which negatively impacts the water cycle and has led us to this tipping point. According to the UN World Water Development Report 2021, the inability to recognise the value of water is the main cause of water waste and misuse.

A reality check

On 5 October, Rand Water implemented Stage 2 regulations to conserve water in Gauteng [which have since been lifted]. This meant that the watering of gardens, use of hosepipes and filling of swimming pools is prohibited. Most of the suburban areas affected are used to having water running through their taps with the same amount of certainty that the sun will rise tomorrow. These water restrictions are significant because we often think of water exclusively in terms of cost and price, without realising its tremendous values.

Globally, fresh water is becoming scarcer. However, our collective action can ensure that we have ‘fresh water forever’. It starts with seeing and valuing water, which will spill over into the choices we make in our everyday lives. Shrinking our water footprint in our choices of diet, energy use and daily household watersavvy practices ensures we return water to the natural world and repair the broken water cycle.

There were more than 300 sessions on the theme ‘Seeing the Unseen: The Value of Water’