environment
Two cities on two continents provide a blueprint for the solution as cities move to secure water supplies against the backdrop of extreme drought, and Gina Ziafogel in Part 3 of the drought series. I am writing. Please read Part 1 and Part 2.
Droughts are becoming an ever-increasing stress for cities. More people are moving to cities as rainfall fluctuates more and droughts become more intense and frequent. Dams and reservoirs are important, but soft infrastructure is just as important. Cape Town in South Africa and Santa Claus in the United States are two cities facing drought and looking to outside assistance to solve the problem.
In 2018, the city of Cape Town, South Africa, was afraid of a “Day Zero” where the faucet could turn off after three years of anemic rainfall. At the height of the Day Zero limit, residents were limited to using 50 liters of water per day. This is equivalent to a shower for about 5 minutes.
To avoid water disasters, the City of Cape Town agreed with the Water Resilience Advisory Board (WRAC) in 2017, inviting outside experts to help respond to the crisis.
The members of the recruited committee are water experts or key stakeholders, and one of the officials of the Department of Water Sanitation said that they have a “genuine generous spirit” in providing their expertise and perspectives. Shown.
WRAC has pressured authorities to share more information with the general public. City officials have created a dashboard. The dashboard transparently shared the latest information on mapping dam water levels and high water usage areas.
One of the most obvious long-term benefits of WRAC was improved communication between staff and external stakeholders. Decision-making arrangements did not go into a mode of collaborative governance, but the WRAC process brought more expertise to drought management and adaptation. Drought governance was improved both during and after the crisis, helping Cape Town develop a more resilient urban water system.
WRAC in Cape Town provides a blueprint for cities seeking to open up water governance to a wider water community. And they are not the only ones pursuing this model.
Santa Claus, a city just south of San Francisco, USA, understands the water problems in Cape Town. With similar climatic conditions as Cape Town, winter rainfall and reservoirs (known in South Africa as dams) are the city’s main sources of water. Its water supply is also under extreme threat due to the drought.
The Santa Cruz Water Supply Advisory Board (WSAC), agreed by the City of Santa Cruz in 2014, is a form of governance that is even more advanced than Cape Town, handing over the city’s water supply plan to a group of citizens.
The city has nominated 14 people, mainly from outside the government. They were primarily interested in representatives of organizations and interested citizens involved in environmental and business issues. This committee was supported by the Santa Cruz Water Services Authority. Rosemary Menard, head of the Water Department, was an ex officio non-voting member. At the end of their 18-month tenure, there was a unanimous agreement on their recommendations.
Basically, they prioritize “excess” water from streams and San Lorenzo rivers on the north coast to recharge the borewater reserve, use it in place of borewater, or store adjacent waters in the reserve. I decided to send it to (‘Water Movement’).
More water will be available in the year of drought if surface water can replenish underground reserves (aquifers). Adjacent districts with a complete aquifer can send water back to Santa Cruz as needed (“water exchange”).
This approach means that water is not drained into the sea, but is used instead of draining a valuable aquifer supply. We hope it helps prevent the infiltration of seawater into the depleted aquifers of growing concern. Also, because water is stored underground, there is less significant evaporation given climate change and rising temperatures. Restoration of groundwater levels may improve the flow of streams that are important to fish and ecosystems.
In establishing the committee, the city of Santa Claus has taken two special steps. The city council not only handed over the water plan to people outside the city government, but also to people who were not necessarily subject experts.
The committee was supported by a panel of four experts and a technical team that provided information on topics ranging from geology to water modeling, law and econometrics, but the final recommendations were decided by the committee. It was entrusted to the meeting.
According to some committee members, facilitation by process experts was the key to success. Professional facilitators have spent a lot of time developing shared vocabulary and helping groups listen to each other. Many opinions were also provided by the “Meeting”, which solicited ideas from more than 50 communities to tackle water supply.
The committee met every evening to serve meals. This helped to provide a conductive atmosphere. The conference was open to the public and could also suggest ideas for water supply.
The first thing that was clear was that the Commission agreed that the city wanted to be more water resistant, but did not agree on how to get there. So they set out to investigate water-related issues and various strategies.
Historically, the government was responsible for drought management. However, as the scale of challenges grows and the focus shifts to collaborative governance in the management of natural resources, governance practices are changing.
As more cities are exposed to water stress, the Cape Town and Santa Cruz approaches show the value of involving citizens and diverse stakeholders in environmental governance. Seeking the perspective of those who live and invest in the community in consultation with experts can improve the robustness of drought governance in the city. It not only helps build trust between citizens and local governments, but also provides the opportunity to listen to multiple perspectives and collaboratively develop resilient responses.
Gina Zia Vogel ((((ORCID) Is an associate professor at the Faculty of Environmental Geography, University of Cape Town, South Africa. She was a member of the Water Resilience Advisory Board of Cape Town from 2017 to 2021.
Originally published by 360info ™ under Creative Commons.