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Data monitoring tool for uMhlathuze catchment launched

21st January 2022

By: Natasha Odendaal

Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

     

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As the uMhlathuze Water Stewardship Partnership (Uwasp), focused on the Mhlathuze river catchment on the north-east coast of KwaZulu-Natal, about 180 km north of Durban, celebrates its fifth year, the development of a complementary, transformative catchmentwide monitoring tool is under way.

Uwasp, which was established after a major drought in 2016 and the need for a collective response in the region, has done significant work since inception and now plans to bolster the visibility of water information and data in the catchment through a new mobile and desktop application.

Believed to be transformative for the region, which includes Richards Bay, Melmoth and Empangeni, the Integrated Water Resources Decision Support System (Inwards) will enable the building of improved data and water management.

“There is an urgent need to increase the visibility of water use in the catchment. Increased data quality and transparency will support improved management and improved management will help reduce water outages and support long-term food and water security,” says National Business Initiative (NBI) water and sustainable finance lead Alex McNamara.

Improved management and data means less water outages, more long-term planning capacity and water security.

The development of Inwards for uMhlathuze is being undertaken in conjunction with the Association for Water and Rural Development (Award), which is the developer of mobile phone application FlowTracker.

Inwards will strengthen key monitoring points in the uMhlathuze region to improve data quality and support use by farmers, communities, companies and public officials.

The mobile version will provide accessibility, while the desktop application supports more advanced analysis and decision-making.

“It provides the best of both worlds,” McNamara commented during the seventh annual Water Stewardship virtual event in November.

The project started a few months ago.

“It will take a bit of time, but we are well on our way in terms of setting up this particular project, which we hope will help to build further trust, leverage the great relationship we formed through the partnership and also give people the data they need to make even better decisions,” he continues.

Further, the licensing fees and data requirements, as well as maintenance costs, are small.

“We will be looking at upgrading certain key monitoring points and monitoring stations in close cooperation with local partners and national government departments, including the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS), so that we really pinpoint some key monitoring stations where we do want to improve data quality where possible.

“For us, we feel this is the kind of systemic approach that will really help build and take our project to the next level.”

Uwasp was formed in 2016 as a river basin collaboration between business, government and civil society to address water- security challenges in the uMhlathuze region of South Africa.

Partners include the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit, the NBI and World Wide Fund for Nature South Africa, along with Tongaat Hulett, Mondi South Africa and government stakeholders, including the DWS, and Pongolo-uMzimkulu Proto-Catchment Management Agency.

The partnership works closely with wider industry in the catchment, the City of uMhlathuze and several farmers and landowners in the region, serving as a coordination hub for collective action on water across the region, implementing short and medium-term measures to improve water security and strengthening water governance for the benefit of all users in the catchment.

“We have had good success in tackling water leaks and nonrevenue water with the City of uMhlathuze,” he says.

The partnership also supports collaborative monitoring and management of the dam’s water releases, supports women in farming, small businesses and smallholder farmers in the area, enables natural resource management and approaches for more efficient farming and enables water reuse and management in the agricultural sector.

The partnership has also experimented with new solutions, while heightening business understanding of water stewardship.

Edited by Martin Zhuwakinyu
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

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