Investigating epistemic justice in an adaptive planning process: towards developing a local catchment management strategy
- Authors: Ralekhetla, Mateboho Mary
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Watershed management -- South Africa , Watershed management -- South Africa -- Moral and ethical aspects , Water resources development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Water-supply -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Makana Water Forum (Makhanda, South Africa) , Makana Municipality (Makhanda, South Africa)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/95980 , vital:31220
- Description: In South Africa, Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) is being put into practice in a way that incorporates the belief that all stakeholders should be given a voice in decisions that affect them. Catchment Management Forums (CMFs) are the first place for stakeholder participation, supported by Catchment Management Agencies (CMAs). A key first task of a CMA is to develop of their Catchment Management Strategy (CMS). In this research, I consulted and worked with stakeholders in the Makana Water Forum (Makana Local Municipality, Eastern Cape, South Africa) throughout the process as they worked towards formulating their local CMS. Importantly, this study used insights from the community to focus on the inter- and intra-group interactions among the stakeholders who participated in the first step of Strategic Adaptive Planning. In the process, I explored epistemic contestations that occurred between different epistemic agents (participants) who may have held identity prejudices. The research aimed to allow voices, which could otherwise have been marginalised, to come out in ways that were not stigmatised through the written and personal reflective process. In doing this, the study tried to hear the voice of the oppressed speaker whose knowledge and lived experiences have been overlooked by the hearer’s prejudice. Findings show that participants who were part of the CMS development process experienced epistemic justice. These findings further established that the addition of participant reflections enhanced the level of epistemic justice promoted by the Adaptive Planning Process (APP).
- Full Text:
- Authors: Ralekhetla, Mateboho Mary
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Watershed management -- South Africa , Watershed management -- South Africa -- Moral and ethical aspects , Water resources development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Water-supply -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Makana Water Forum (Makhanda, South Africa) , Makana Municipality (Makhanda, South Africa)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/95980 , vital:31220
- Description: In South Africa, Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) is being put into practice in a way that incorporates the belief that all stakeholders should be given a voice in decisions that affect them. Catchment Management Forums (CMFs) are the first place for stakeholder participation, supported by Catchment Management Agencies (CMAs). A key first task of a CMA is to develop of their Catchment Management Strategy (CMS). In this research, I consulted and worked with stakeholders in the Makana Water Forum (Makana Local Municipality, Eastern Cape, South Africa) throughout the process as they worked towards formulating their local CMS. Importantly, this study used insights from the community to focus on the inter- and intra-group interactions among the stakeholders who participated in the first step of Strategic Adaptive Planning. In the process, I explored epistemic contestations that occurred between different epistemic agents (participants) who may have held identity prejudices. The research aimed to allow voices, which could otherwise have been marginalised, to come out in ways that were not stigmatised through the written and personal reflective process. In doing this, the study tried to hear the voice of the oppressed speaker whose knowledge and lived experiences have been overlooked by the hearer’s prejudice. Findings show that participants who were part of the CMS development process experienced epistemic justice. These findings further established that the addition of participant reflections enhanced the level of epistemic justice promoted by the Adaptive Planning Process (APP).
- Full Text:
Historical perspectives and future directions for access to land, water and related ecosystem services in the Lower Sundays River Valley, South Africa: implications for human well being
- Authors: Chadzingwa, Karabo
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/442 , vital:19959
- Description: The legacy of South Africa’s history has facilitated unequal access to land and water resources. In the Lower Sundays River Valley (LSRV), a predominantly commercial farming area, differential access to land and water has impacted aspects of ecosystem service access and human well‐being for disenfranchised families over time. Despite the social, political and economic reform efforts in the past two decades, severe inertia towards efforts attempting to increase equitable access to land and water has been experienced. As a result, communities have mobilized and claimed their land from the government through the land restitution process. Based on a mixed‐methods approach, this research explores the ways in which access to land and water over time has influenced current levels of human well‐being among disenfranchised families. Provisioning and cultural ecosystem services were identified as key areas of loss as a result of forced evictions from land. Freedom of choice was a central and cross‐cutting theme regarding the ability to change levels of human well‐being. Although the loss of ecosystem services associated with land and water had an impact on households, the ecosystem services which are regarded as fundamental to human well‐being do not seem to have been lost. The study recommends the wide use of freedom of choice as an indicator for well‐being in the LSRV, as well as a consideration of subjective, objective and psychological measures of well‐being with regards to natural resources and ecosystem services access. Key agents in fostering desirable pathways toward equity and sustainability in the LSRV are identified with stakeholders as private businesses; inclusive governance; empowered and skilled individuals, as well as NGOs.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Chadzingwa, Karabo
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/442 , vital:19959
- Description: The legacy of South Africa’s history has facilitated unequal access to land and water resources. In the Lower Sundays River Valley (LSRV), a predominantly commercial farming area, differential access to land and water has impacted aspects of ecosystem service access and human well‐being for disenfranchised families over time. Despite the social, political and economic reform efforts in the past two decades, severe inertia towards efforts attempting to increase equitable access to land and water has been experienced. As a result, communities have mobilized and claimed their land from the government through the land restitution process. Based on a mixed‐methods approach, this research explores the ways in which access to land and water over time has influenced current levels of human well‐being among disenfranchised families. Provisioning and cultural ecosystem services were identified as key areas of loss as a result of forced evictions from land. Freedom of choice was a central and cross‐cutting theme regarding the ability to change levels of human well‐being. Although the loss of ecosystem services associated with land and water had an impact on households, the ecosystem services which are regarded as fundamental to human well‐being do not seem to have been lost. The study recommends the wide use of freedom of choice as an indicator for well‐being in the LSRV, as well as a consideration of subjective, objective and psychological measures of well‐being with regards to natural resources and ecosystem services access. Key agents in fostering desirable pathways toward equity and sustainability in the LSRV are identified with stakeholders as private businesses; inclusive governance; empowered and skilled individuals, as well as NGOs.
- Full Text:
Investigating integrated catchment management using a simple water quantity and quality model : a case study of the Crocodile River Catchment, South Africa
- Retief, Daniel Christoffel Hugo
- Authors: Retief, Daniel Christoffel Hugo
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Watersheds -- South Africa -- Krokodilrivier (Mpumalanga) , Integrated water development -- South Africa -- Krokodilrivier (Mpumalanga) , Water quality management -- South Africa -- Krokodilrivier (Mpumalanga) , Water-supply -- South Africa -- Krokodilrivier (Mpumalanga) , Water quality -- Measurement
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:6050 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017875
- Description: Internationally, water resources are facing increasing pressure due to over-exploitation and pollution. Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) has been accepted internationally as a paradigm for integrative and sustainable management of water resources. However, in practice, the implementation and success of IWRM policies has been hampered by the lack of availability of integrative decision support tools, especially within the context of limited resources and observed data. This is true for the Crocodile River Catchment (CRC), located within the Mpumalanga Province of South Africa. The catchment has been experiencing a decline in water quality as a result of the point source input of a cocktail of pollutants, which are discharged from industrial and municipal wastewater treatment plants, as well as diffuse source runoff and return flows from the extensive areas of irrigated agriculture and mining sites. The decline in water quality has profound implications for a range of stakeholders across the catchment including increased treatment costs and reduced crop yields. The combination of deteriorating water quality and the lack of understanding of the relationships between water quantity and quality for determining compliance/non-compliance in the CRC have resulted in collaboration between stakeholders, willing to work in a participatory and transparent manner to create an Integrated Water Quality Management Plan (IWQMP). This project aimed to model water quality, (combined water quality and quantity), to facilitate the IWQMP aiding in the understanding of the relationship between water quantity and quality in the CRC. A relatively simple water quality model (WQSAM) was used that receives inputs from established water quantity systems models, and was designed to be a water quality decision support tool for South African catchments. The model was applied to the CRC, achieving acceptable simulations of total dissolved solids (used as a surrogate for salinity) and nutrients (including orthophosphates, nitrates +nitrites and ammonium) for historical conditions. Validation results revealed that there is little consistency within the catchment, attributed to the non-stationary nature of water quality at many of the sites in the CRC. The analyses of the results using a number of representations including, seasonal load distributions, load duration curves and load flow plots, confirmed that the WQSAM model was able to capture the variability of relationships between water quantity and quality, provided that simulated hydrology was sufficiently accurate. The outputs produced by WQSAM was seen as useful for the CRC, with the Inkomati-Usuthu Catchment Management Agency (IUCMA) planning to operationalise the model in 2015. The ability of WQSAM to simulate water quality in data scarce catchments, with constituents that are appropriate for the needs of water resource management within South Africa, is highly beneficial.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Retief, Daniel Christoffel Hugo
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Watersheds -- South Africa -- Krokodilrivier (Mpumalanga) , Integrated water development -- South Africa -- Krokodilrivier (Mpumalanga) , Water quality management -- South Africa -- Krokodilrivier (Mpumalanga) , Water-supply -- South Africa -- Krokodilrivier (Mpumalanga) , Water quality -- Measurement
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:6050 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017875
- Description: Internationally, water resources are facing increasing pressure due to over-exploitation and pollution. Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) has been accepted internationally as a paradigm for integrative and sustainable management of water resources. However, in practice, the implementation and success of IWRM policies has been hampered by the lack of availability of integrative decision support tools, especially within the context of limited resources and observed data. This is true for the Crocodile River Catchment (CRC), located within the Mpumalanga Province of South Africa. The catchment has been experiencing a decline in water quality as a result of the point source input of a cocktail of pollutants, which are discharged from industrial and municipal wastewater treatment plants, as well as diffuse source runoff and return flows from the extensive areas of irrigated agriculture and mining sites. The decline in water quality has profound implications for a range of stakeholders across the catchment including increased treatment costs and reduced crop yields. The combination of deteriorating water quality and the lack of understanding of the relationships between water quantity and quality for determining compliance/non-compliance in the CRC have resulted in collaboration between stakeholders, willing to work in a participatory and transparent manner to create an Integrated Water Quality Management Plan (IWQMP). This project aimed to model water quality, (combined water quality and quantity), to facilitate the IWQMP aiding in the understanding of the relationship between water quantity and quality in the CRC. A relatively simple water quality model (WQSAM) was used that receives inputs from established water quantity systems models, and was designed to be a water quality decision support tool for South African catchments. The model was applied to the CRC, achieving acceptable simulations of total dissolved solids (used as a surrogate for salinity) and nutrients (including orthophosphates, nitrates +nitrites and ammonium) for historical conditions. Validation results revealed that there is little consistency within the catchment, attributed to the non-stationary nature of water quality at many of the sites in the CRC. The analyses of the results using a number of representations including, seasonal load distributions, load duration curves and load flow plots, confirmed that the WQSAM model was able to capture the variability of relationships between water quantity and quality, provided that simulated hydrology was sufficiently accurate. The outputs produced by WQSAM was seen as useful for the CRC, with the Inkomati-Usuthu Catchment Management Agency (IUCMA) planning to operationalise the model in 2015. The ability of WQSAM to simulate water quality in data scarce catchments, with constituents that are appropriate for the needs of water resource management within South Africa, is highly beneficial.
- Full Text:
The role of salinity as an abiotic driver of ecological condition in a rural agricultural catchment
- Authors: Lerotholi, Sekhonyana
- Date: 2006
- Subjects: Soils, Salts in -- South Africa -- Kat River , Water salinization -- South Africa -- Kat River , Water quality -- South Africa -- Kat River , Salinization -- Control -- South Africa -- Kat River , Agricultural pollution -- South Africa -- Kat River , Aquatic ecology -- South Africa -- Kat River , Salinity -- South Africa -- Kat River
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4852 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005528 , Soils, Salts in -- South Africa -- Kat River , Water salinization -- South Africa -- Kat River , Water quality -- South Africa -- Kat River , Salinization -- Control -- South Africa -- Kat River , Agricultural pollution -- South Africa -- Kat River , Aquatic ecology -- South Africa -- Kat River , Salinity -- South Africa -- Kat River
- Description: The Kat River is an agricultural catchment that drains salt rich geology. Potential salinity impacts on ecological condition of the river were investigated. Monthly salt concentrations and flow discharges were monitored at ten sites along the Kat River below the Kat Dam. Monthly salt loads were computed to relate salinity to land use and ionic data used to assess the toxicity of major salts using the TIMS model. Concentration duration curves for sodium chloride were derived from flow concentration relationships, representing sodium chloride concentrations to which the aquatic ecosystem had been exposed. The ecological condition was assessed at nineteen sites using SASS5 biotic index over four seasons. Finally, the modelled instream salt concentrations and bioasessments were evaluated in terms of the modelled level of species protection afforded at different salt concentrations. Species Sensitivity Distributions (SSDs) were used for this exercise. There was a general downstream increase in salinity with the minimum concentrations recorded at the Fairbain tributary (84 mg/L) and maximum levels at the sewage outfall in Fort Beaufort (1222 mg/L). There was evidence that citrus irrigation upstream of Fort Beaufort increased salinisation. Sodium chloride, and to a lesser extent magnesium sulphate, were the dominant salts in the Kat River catchment, with the latter being more toxic. However these had little or no impact on the aquatic ecosystem. Flow-derived sodium chloride concentrations showed that both the Balfour and Blinkwater tributaries were in a fair/ poor condition. However with regard to ecological condition, it was demonstrated that the river is generally in a good state except for the Blinkwater River and the lower catchment. Degraded habitat condition at the Blinkwater was responsible for poor ecological condition. Integrating SSD derived classes, sodium chloride classes and ecological condition indicated that sodium chloride is a driver of ecological condition at the sewage treatment works and the subsequent site (only two of nineteen biomonitoring sites).
- Full Text:
- Authors: Lerotholi, Sekhonyana
- Date: 2006
- Subjects: Soils, Salts in -- South Africa -- Kat River , Water salinization -- South Africa -- Kat River , Water quality -- South Africa -- Kat River , Salinization -- Control -- South Africa -- Kat River , Agricultural pollution -- South Africa -- Kat River , Aquatic ecology -- South Africa -- Kat River , Salinity -- South Africa -- Kat River
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4852 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005528 , Soils, Salts in -- South Africa -- Kat River , Water salinization -- South Africa -- Kat River , Water quality -- South Africa -- Kat River , Salinization -- Control -- South Africa -- Kat River , Agricultural pollution -- South Africa -- Kat River , Aquatic ecology -- South Africa -- Kat River , Salinity -- South Africa -- Kat River
- Description: The Kat River is an agricultural catchment that drains salt rich geology. Potential salinity impacts on ecological condition of the river were investigated. Monthly salt concentrations and flow discharges were monitored at ten sites along the Kat River below the Kat Dam. Monthly salt loads were computed to relate salinity to land use and ionic data used to assess the toxicity of major salts using the TIMS model. Concentration duration curves for sodium chloride were derived from flow concentration relationships, representing sodium chloride concentrations to which the aquatic ecosystem had been exposed. The ecological condition was assessed at nineteen sites using SASS5 biotic index over four seasons. Finally, the modelled instream salt concentrations and bioasessments were evaluated in terms of the modelled level of species protection afforded at different salt concentrations. Species Sensitivity Distributions (SSDs) were used for this exercise. There was a general downstream increase in salinity with the minimum concentrations recorded at the Fairbain tributary (84 mg/L) and maximum levels at the sewage outfall in Fort Beaufort (1222 mg/L). There was evidence that citrus irrigation upstream of Fort Beaufort increased salinisation. Sodium chloride, and to a lesser extent magnesium sulphate, were the dominant salts in the Kat River catchment, with the latter being more toxic. However these had little or no impact on the aquatic ecosystem. Flow-derived sodium chloride concentrations showed that both the Balfour and Blinkwater tributaries were in a fair/ poor condition. However with regard to ecological condition, it was demonstrated that the river is generally in a good state except for the Blinkwater River and the lower catchment. Degraded habitat condition at the Blinkwater was responsible for poor ecological condition. Integrating SSD derived classes, sodium chloride classes and ecological condition indicated that sodium chloride is a driver of ecological condition at the sewage treatment works and the subsequent site (only two of nineteen biomonitoring sites).
- Full Text:
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