GREATER CAPE TOWN WATER FUND BUSINESS CASE | ASSESSING THE RETURN ON INVESTMENT FOR ECOLOGICAL INFRASTRUCTURE RESTORATION | AUGUST 2019 LEAD AUTHORS CONTRIBUTING AUTHORS EDITOR The Nature Conservancy Anchor Environmental Consultants Yellowbrick Louise Stafford, Daniel Shemie, Timm Jane Turpie and Katherine Forsythe Sonja Mitchell Kroeger, Tracy Baker, Colin Apse WITH SPECIAL THANKS TO Mark Botha, Independent consultant; Gail Cleaver-Christie, CapeNature; Christine Colvin, World Wide Fund for Nature; Peter Flower, City of Cape Town; Professor Graham Jewitt, University of Kwa-Zulu Natal; Gisela Keyser, City of Cape Town; David le Maitre, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research; Kerri Savin, Nedbank; Johan van der Merwe, City of Cape Town; Professor Brian van Wilgen, Stellenbosch University GENEROUS SUPPORTERS STEERING COMMITTEE PUBLIC PARTNERS CONTACT Ms. Louise Stafford, Director of Water Funds, South Africa | The Nature Conservancy Block E, The Terraces, Steenberg Office Park | Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa Telephone: +27 21 201 7391 | [email protected] NATURE.ORG/CAPE-TOWN-WATER GREATER CAPE TOWN WATER FUND BUSINESS CASE | 1 CONTENTS List of Figures ..............................................................................................................................................................................3 Abbreviations ..............................................................................................................................................................................4 Glossary ........................................................................................................................................................................................5 Foreword .......................................................................................................................................................................................6 Executive Summary ...................................................................................................................................................................8 The role of the Greater Cape Town Water Fund .....................................................................................................10 Introduction .................................................................................................................................................................................11 From source to tap ..........................................................................................................................................................12 Ecological infrastructure ................................................................................................................................................12 A Water Fund for the Greater Cape Town Region ..................................................................................................13 Bridging the gap ...............................................................................................................................................................14 The Western Cape Water Supply System ...........................................................................................................................15 Demand to outstrip supply ...........................................................................................................................................16 The high cost of “new” water .......................................................................................................................................17 Where the water comes from ......................................................................................................................................18 Alien plant invasion ........................................................................................................................................................19 Current initiatives to control invasive alien plants in the WCWSS ....................................................................22 Evaluating the cost competitiveness of catchment restoration ....................................................................................24 Six-step analysis ..............................................................................................................................................................26 Summary ...........................................................................................................................................................................38 Additional ecological infrastructure interventions to secure water ............................................................................39 Wetland restoration .......................................................................................................................................................39 Managing decommissioned forestry areas ..............................................................................................................41 Opportunity cost of decommissioning the plantations .........................................................................................42 Case Study – Steenbras a City of Cape Town owned plantation ...........................................................................42 Next steps for the Greater Cape Town Water Fund .........................................................................................................43 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................................................................44 Appendices A. Return on investment methodology......................................................................................................................46 B. Water management legislative and regulatory environment ..........................................................................47 C. Technical studies ........................................................................................................................................................47 D. Models used for analysing water losses due to invasive plants ....................................................................48 Description of WR2005 software Description of ResSim model E. Unit Reference Value .................................................................................................................................................49 F. Scenarios .......................................................................................................................................................................50 G. Wetland prioritisation criteria ................................................................................................................................51 H. DEA Environmental Programmes and links ........................................................................................................52 I. Sources for spatial data ..............................................................................................................................................52 Notes .............................................................................................................................................................................................53 Photo Credits...............................................................................................................................................................................55 2 | GREATER CAPE TOWN WATER FUND BUSINESS CASE LIST OF FIGURES EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Figure E1: Water supply gain and unit cost (URV) comparison between different catchment restoration and other supply options ...................................................................................................9 MAIN SECTION Figure 1: The population is growing while water supply has flatlined ..........................................................................11 Figure 2: Example of black wattle tree invasion by Theewaterskloof dam .................................................................12 Figure 3: A Water Fund is a funding and governance mechanism that enables water users to invest collectively in catchment restoration alongside upstream communities ........................................14 Figure 4: Western Cape Water Supply System users include the Cape Town metropolitan area, the agricultural sector, smaller municipalities, and communities ......................................................................15 Figure 5: Share of water demand in the Western Cape Water Supply System .........................................................16 Figure 6: Unit cost comparison and estimated water yield potential of grey infrastructure solutions under consideration by the city .................................................................................................................17 Figure 7: Over two-thirds of sub-catchments are invaded by alien plants .................................................................19 Figure 8: Pine tree invasion ......................................................................................................................................................20 Figure 9: Invasive alien plant coverage of surface water sub-catchments, showing percentage of sub-catchment where invasive plants are present and the percentage of sub-catchment with condensed invasive plants. ..................................................................................................................................21