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Developing new urban water supplies : Investigating motivations and barriers to groundwater use in Cape Town, South Africa Luker, Emma; Harris, Leila

Abstract

Many cities are experiencing increasing water resource stress. In Cape Town, South Africa, surface water supplies are at a record low due to a multi-year drought crisis which began in 2015. This paper analyzes the range of motivations, possibilities and obstacles related to diversifying Cape Town’s water supply system through the upscaling of groundwater resources. Drawing on insights from local experts, it is maintained that uncertainty surrounding groundwater and drought management practices present significant barriers to Cape Town’s ongoing water diversification efforts. This paper provides further insight and discussion for future water planning in Cape Town, as well as for other urban, water scarce, regions.

Item Metadata

Title
Developing new urban water supplies : Investigating motivations and barriers to groundwater use in Cape Town, South Africa
Creator
Luker, Emma; Harris, Leila
Contributor
University of British Columbia. Program on Water Governance; EDGES (University of British Columbia)
Publisher
International Journal of Water Resources Development
Date Issued
2018-09-26
Description
Many cities are experiencing increasing water resource stress. In Cape Town, South Africa, surface water supplies are at a record low due to a multi-year drought crisis which began in 2015. This paper analyzes the range of motivations, possibilities and obstacles related to diversifying Cape Town’s water supply system through the upscaling of groundwater resources. Drawing on insights from local experts, it is maintained that uncertainty surrounding groundwater and drought management practices present significant barriers to Cape Town’s ongoing water diversification efforts. This paper provides further insight and discussion for future water planning in Cape Town, as well as for other urban, water scarce, regions.
Subject
Cape Town; groundwater; drought; water supply planning; resilience
Genre
Article; Postprint
Type
Text
Language
eng
Date Available
2020-11-06
Provider
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
DOI
10.14288/1.0394929
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/2429/76482
Affiliation
Science, Faculty of; Other UBC; Resources, Environment and Sustainability (IRES), Institute for
Citation
Emma Luker & Leila M. Harris (2019) Developing new urban water supplies: investigating motivations and barriers to groundwater use in Cape Town, International Journal of Water Resources Development, 35:6, 917-937
Publisher DOI
10.1080/07900627.2018.1509787
Peer Review Status
Reviewed
Scholarly Level
Faculty; Other
Rights URI
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Aggregated Source Repository
DSpace

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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International