The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) has launched a new system that provides water management agencies (WMAs) access to weather and water information to enable decision-making based on the weather and climate to sustainably manage South Africa’s scarce water resources.

The new HydroNET Water Control Room in Nelspruit, Mpumalanga, is a Web-based decision support system that provides intelligent solutions for operational and strategic water management.

Combining weather information from the South African Weather Service (SAWS) with water information from the DWS, and generating overviews, forecasts and warnings with the local knowledge, the new system will empower water professionals to make well-informed, transparent, and accountable decisions for managing water resources and for sharing relevant information with stakeholders and partners.

“This is critically important for a water scarce country like South Africa, and every raindrop is critical for water management,” the DWS said in a statement announcing the launch.

The DWS, in collaboration with the SAWS, HydroLogic, eLEAF, the Dutch water authorities and the Inkomati-Usuthu Catchment Management Agency, launched a pilot to demonstrate the benefits of the HydroNET Water Control Room for South Africa.

“Data and information decision-making tools are critical to advise water managers and communities timeously of impending disasters. This HydroNET system is capacitating catchment management agencies (CMAs) with real-time access during the two years of the contract to various dashboards, reports and tools empowering them to make the right decisions at the right time in a country where every raindrop is critical for the sustainability of water management in South Africa,” said DWS director-general Dr Sean Phillips.

The HydroNET dashboard will be personalised with tables and modern results that will assist in making reliable and safe decisions at the right time,” added SAWS CEO Ishaam Abader, commending the CMAs that have updated their case studies.

HydroNET South Africa’s Michelle Hartslief said an implementation and training plan, particularly in weather training, water auditing and water control room training, will be offered to water managers in various CMAs.

“The HydroNET project will be implemented by the SAWS and the DWS will play an oversight role. We are looking forward to collaborate with both institutions to ensure good water management in South Africa.”