As the climate crisis bites and droughts intensify, it’s time to go underground

South Africa is approaching increasing water scarcity and according to the National Groundwater Strategy of the Department of Water and Sanitation, the development of groundwater resources will become crucial for sustaining water security. Surface water, the traditional source for bulk supply, is becoming limited and even unavailable in many catchments and infrastructure and the costs of construction and maintenance is prohibitive.

Groundwater’s role in South Africa has undergone a major shift during the water sector transformation post-1994, from an undervalued resource and a “private water legal status” to a source of domestic water and general livelihood to more than 60% of communities in thousands of villages and small towns countrywide as part of the national drive to meet basic water needs.

Groundwater is a strategic resource that supports drinking water, livestock watering and irrigation in South Africa. It is also vitally important in meeting the UN’s sustainable development goals (SDGs), specifically SDG 6 on water, as many towns in South Africa are either partially or solely supplied by groundwater.

The UN Water/Africa vision for 2025 compels us to think about new ways of managing Africa’s water to improve its efficient, equitable and sustainable use, to the benefit of all. It is for this reason that an Africa Water Vision is most opportune at this time. The development of this vision stems primarily from recognition of the essential role of water in sustaining life, development, and life-supporting environmental resources.

However, within the broader context, groundwater only seems to come to the fore during periods of drought and is often seen as a “quick fix” to solve a crisis. This leads to a lack of integrated planning and management, increasing the likelihood of unsustainability and eventual abandonment of groundwater infrastructure. The generally perpetuated narrative is that South African groundwater resources are being over-abstracted and polluted, and although this is true for some parts of the country, especially where mining exists, it is actually greatly underused on average.

South Africa withdraws between 2km³ and 4km³/annum of groundwater, more than 70% of it for irrigation. However, we can argue that it is rather the absence of the services needed to support groundwater development (including energy, drilling and pumping equipment, hard and soft infrastructure, physical access, finances and institutional support) that is the real constraint.

The high socioeconomic and ecological importance of groundwater and the fact that it is an important strategic resource are recognised throughout sub-Saharan Africa. However, data on groundwater systems are sparse and the current state of knowledge is low: this is a serious limitation for the sustainable development of groundwater resources.

Therefore, efforts to improve the situation have been made over the past decade through the publication of syntheses and reviews at the national, regional and continental levels. It is clear that strategies to ensure the sustainable development and management of groundwater resources need to be put in place but more importantly, it has to be continuously assessed to determine whether or not it’s having the desired impact.

Groundwater is clearly a major factor in socioeconomic recovery and development in South Africa. In certain parts of the country, there are large untapped groundwater reserves. Yet, it has severe and complex natural and human-made problems that constrain the exploitation and proper development of its water resources potential.