World Water Day, held on March 22 every year since 1993, focuses on the importance of freshwater.
The concept for an international water day dates back to 1992, the year in which the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro took place.
That same year, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution which declared that March 22 of each year was to be World Day for Water, to be observed the following year in 1993.
The day celebrates water and raises awareness of the 2.2 billion people living without access to safe water across the world. It is about taking action to tackle the global water crisis.
A core focus of World Water Day is to support the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 6 which pertains to the provision of safe water and sanitation for all by 2030.
This year's theme follows the importance of groundwater.
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The United Nations Environmental Programme explains that groundwater is water found underground in aquifers, which are geological formations of rocks, sands and gravels that hold substantial quantities of water.
Groundwater feeds springs, rivers, lakes and wetlands, and seeps into oceans. Groundwater is recharged mainly from rain and snowfall infiltrating the ground. Groundwater can be extracted to the surface by pumps and wells.
A 2017 report by the World Bank estimated that at least 70% of the 250 million people living in southern African countries rely on groundwater as their primary source of water.
“It is not only used for drinking and sanitation, but also to support livelihoods, agriculture, ecosystem health, and industrial growth. However, unmanaged use of groundwater by competing sectors can be dangerous to those that rely on it. Expanding industry is drawing down aquifer levels, and pollution of the aquifers from agriculture and mining adds to the growing concerns,” said the report.
“Groundwater is hidden and incomplete oblivion from policy-makers in general,” said Mohamed Bazza, senior officer of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation and partner of the Groundwater Governance Global Framework for Action. “This means groundwater is challenged by threats of depletion and pollution.”
Life would not be possible without groundwater. Most arid areas of the world depend entirely on groundwater. Groundwater supplies a large proportion of the water we use for drinking, sanitation, food production and industrial processes. It is also critically important to the healthy functioning of ecosystems, such as wetlands and rivers.
The most recent Intergovernmental Panel Climate Change (IPCC) report released at the end of February 2022 outlined how we are likely to experience more frequent droughts and floods with concomitant disruptions to water supply.
A recent report by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) highlighted that “under these circumstances, groundwater supplies become critical for water security.”
South Africa has a total of 22 surfaces and 37 groundwater source areas stretched across the country. One of these sources of groundwater lies under Table Mountain.
Launched in November 2021, the Table Mountain Water Source Partnership aims not only to improve our understanding of groundwater but also to fast track the monitoring and sustainable management of it as a resource after Cape Town emerged from the ‘Day Zero’ drought with the realisation that groundwater was a vital resource within the city.
WWF South Africa is a founding member of the partnership and currently acts as the partnership secretariat.
Since the launch, the partnership has focused on:
● Raising groundwater awareness in the City of Cape Town area through schools and faith groups.
● Expanding a groundwater monitoring network to a total of six residential and business areas.
● Developing a publicly accessible database and ‘‘groundwater dashboard’’ for Capetonians and other interested parties to see the monitoring data over time.
● Critically analysing the local and national groundwater policy and related governance challenges to understand the context in which a successful community-public-private partnership can function.
● Creating a learning exchange between the City of Cape Town and a key Danish company that develops relevant software for the City’s bulk water decision support system.
During the ‘Day Zero’ drought, many Capetonians looked to groundwater to supplement their water supply, yet accurate information about groundwater usage, availability and supply has been scant to date.
A WWF press release said that the development of the Cape Town Groundwater Dashboard offers everyone an accessible and unique tool that freely shares available groundwater information for the Cape Town area.
If groundwater is to be monitored and sustainably managed, the roles and responsibilities of every decision-maker must be clear and executable, from ministerial level to municipal level and the individual borehole owner. Institutions do not yet share a common groundwater vision and civil society voices, like borehole owners, still need to be brought into this mix. How to do that is as yet an unsolved riddle, but it is clear that a shift is needed.
In a recently produced technical report on groundwater policy and governance across South Africa, the analysis advises that it will require the collaboration of multiple stakeholders and the careful navigation of complex institutional, technical and stakeholder environments at a local scale to bridge this gap.
It shows that we still need to improve our understanding of the role and management of groundwater and its relationship to surface water. Also needed is behaviour change with more monitoring and better groundwater data management.
These combined actions could lead to a better understanding of groundwater and its use and management in and around a city that urgently needs holistic and sustainable water resource management approaches for the benefit of all its residents.