DWA Report Number: P WMA 02/B810/00/1412/6 DIRECTORATE: NATIONAL WATER RESOURCE PLANNING Development of a Reconciliation Strategy for the Levuvhu and Letaba Water Supply System WATER CONSERVATION AND WATER DEMAND MANAGEMENT STRATEGY AND BUSINESS PLAN REPORT MOPANI DISTRICT MUNICIPALITY u Luvuvh A91K A92C A91J le ta Mu A92B A91H B90A hu uv v u A92A Luvuvhu / Mutale L Fundudzi Mphongolo B90E A91G B90B Vondo Thohoyandou Nandoni A91E A91F B90C B90D A91A A91D Shingwedzi Makhado Shing Albasini Luv we uv dz A91C hu i Kruger B90F B90G A91B KleinLeta B90H ba B82F Nsami National Klein Letaba B82H Middle Letaba Giyani B82E Klein L B82G e Park B82D ta ba B82J B83B Lornadawn B81G a B81H b ta e L le d id B82C M B83C B82B B82A Groot Letaba etaba ot L Gro B81F Lower Letaba B81J Letaba B83D B83A Tzaneen B81E Magoebaskloof Tzaneen a B81B B81C Groot Letab B81A B83E Ebenezer Phalaborwa B81D FINAL April 2013 DEVELOPMENT OF A RECONCILIATION STRATEGY FOR THE LUVUVHU AND LETABA WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM Water Conservation and Water Demand Management Strategy and Business Plan Report REFERENCE This report is to be referred to in bibliographies as: Department of Water Affairs, South Africa, 2012. DEVELOPMENT OF A RECONCILIATION STRATEGY FOR THE LUVUVHU AND LETABA WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM : Water Conservation and Water Demand Management Strategy and Business Plan Report Prepared by: Willem Wegelin WRP Consulting Engineers Report No. P WMA 02/B810/00/1412/6 Development of a Reconciliation Strategy for the WC/WDM Strategy and Luvuvhu & Letaba Water Supply System Business Plan DEVELOPMENT OF A RECONCILIATION STRATEGY FOR THE LUVUVHU AND LETABA WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM Water Conservation and Water Demand Management Strategy and Business Plan Report EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Department of Water Affairs (DWA) has identified the need for the Reconciliation Study for the Luvuvhu-Letaba WMA. The WMA is almost fully developed and demands from the Letaba River currently exceed the yield capability of the system. Regulation for the Letaba WMA is mainly provided by Middle Letaba, Ebenezer and Tzaneen Dams. In the Luvuvhu WMA, the recently completed Nandoni Dam will be used in combination with Albasini, Vondo and Damani dams to be managed as one system. It is expected that the total yield from this combined system will be fully utilized by around 2020, considering only the current planned projected demands. The yield of the Albasini Dam has reduced over the years and as a consequence the dam is over allocated. The Shingwedzi catchment is situated almost entirely in the Kruger National Park and for all practical purposes no sustainable yield is derived from surface flow in the Shingwedzi catchment. The main objective of the study is to compile a Reconciliation Strategy. This strategy will identify and describe water resource management interventions that may be grouped and phased to jointly form a solution to reconcile the water requirements with the available water for the period up to the year 2040. It will be used to develop water availability assessment methodologies and tools applicable to this area that can be used for decision support as part of future compulsory licensing. The development of the strategy requires reliable information on the water requirements and return flows (wastewater), as well as the available water resources for the current situation and likely future scenarios for a planning horizon of thirty years. To achieve the above objectives, the following main aspects will be covered in the study: Update the current and future urban and agricultural water requirements and return flows; Assess the water resources and existing infrastructure; Configure the system models (WRSM2005, WRYM, WRPM) in the Study Area at a quaternary catchment scale, or finer where required, in a manner that is suitable for allocable water quantification; To firm up on the approach and methodology, as well as modelling procedures, for decision support to the on-going licensing processes; To use system models, in the early part of the study, to support allocable water quantifications in the Study Area and, in the latter part of the study, to support on-going licensing decisions, as well as providing information for the development of the Reconciliation Strategy; Formulate reconciliation interventions, both structural and administrative/regulatory; Document the reconciliation process including decision processes that are required by the LLRS WC-WDM Completion Report Final i May 2013 Development of a Reconciliation Strategy for the WC/WDM Strategy and Luvuvhu & Letaba Water Supply System Business Plan strategy; and Conduct stakeholder consultation in the development of the strategy. WC/WDM As part of the development of the overall Luvuvhu-Letaba Reconciliation strategy, the WC/WDM component of the study focused on the following key aspects: Preparing a baseline of current water losses and potential savings in the Luvuvhu-Letaba WMA; Completing WC/WDM performance score cards to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats; Identifying potential interventions, complete with budgets and time lines; Preparing water balance diagrams for the municipalities under investigation, complete with system yields versus demand curves with and without WC/WDM; and Developing high level WC/WDM strategies and business plans for the municipalities within the Luvuvhu-Letaba WMA. The status quo review conducted for the WSAs revealed the following critical challenges existing in the key demand centres, which pose an impediment to service delivery and negatively impact the implementation of WC/WDM in the WMA. Institutional High vacancy levels in the technical departments; WC/WDM skills shortages, particularly at the operations and maintenance levels in the WSAs and WSPs; Limited training and capacity building to capacitate technical personnel; Limited support structures to enable the implementation of WC/WDM; Slow and unresponsive supply chain processes; Political constituencies that are ill equipped to support the achievement of improved service delivery; Inadequate or obscure channel of reporting and communication between the WSAs and WSPs; and Poor communication between the technical and financial departments at the WSP level. Financial Uncoordinated tariff setting process; Tariffs set neither promote WC/WDM nor reflect the cost of water service provision; and Poor understanding of billing process due to limited communication. Social General lack of consumer engagement and participation; Absence of coordinated consumer awareness programmes; Limited support structures to aid reporting of water related challenges; and LLRS WC-WDM Completion Report Final ii May 2013 Development of a Reconciliation Strategy for the WC/WDM Strategy and Luvuvhu & Letaba Water Supply System Business Plan A generally unhappy an uncooperative consumer base. Technical Poor quality and availability of macro and micro management information; Limited bulk metering, sectorisation, zone metering and information analysis; Significant infrastructure upgrade backlogs; Limited proactive asset maintenance; High prevalence of illegal connections in the rural settlements; and Limited asset registers that do not fully incorporate or reflect the existing infrastructure. In view of the challenges noted above arising from the discussions held with the WSAs and WSP’, the following recommendations are made: Institutional Strategy The key intervention for the WSAs within the Luvuvhu-Letaba WMA will be to address the considerable vacancies or shortages in human resources and skills. Ideally, dedicated individuals or sections should be established in order to drive Water Conservation and Demand Management. Specialised training in WC/WDM is pertinent to support the municipal personnel in undertaking the required water loss reduction activities, particularly at the management level where guidance and leadership is required to drive demand management. It is also crucial that the lines of communication are opened between the different municipal departments in order to aid more efficient access to information, which will allow for more effective and coordinated planning. In this regard, an NRW steering committee comprising of the relevant councillors, finance representatives, communication and the technical department can be established to facilitate improved reporting and management of NRW. Procurement processes during and after the transition period must also be streamlined in order to enable swifter access to support structures required for operations and maintenance tasks, which are necessary to mitigate water losses in the systems. Social Strategy Extensive and continuous consumer water education programmes are required which will focus on the community and other key water users, including agricultural users and institutions such as schools, which are potent avenues for the reduction of water losses. The installation of water efficient devices, as well as rain water harvesting; are also avenues which can further be explored for promotion and implementation in different sectors. These devices can aid water loss reduction at the consumer level, particularly in areas where metering and billing cannot immediately be effected, and where cost recovery is very low due to high indigent populations. Structures should also be put in place to support consumers in reporting leakage and other service related complaints. The complaints should be captured electronically in order to allow proper tracking and analysis of water