The City of Cape Town case study on water management illustrates an urgent need for resource planners to integrate climate into water management and planning (New, 2002, pg. 2). In addition to this, the planners should take immediate actions as soon as possible. In the same line of thought, is imperative that actors agree on the importance of climate change adaptation so that multiple benefits are realized from the adaptation actions. Moreover, the actors in water management and planning need to find appropriate pathways that will provide near-perfect adaptation solutions to climate change. Of particular interest are the levels of leadership concerns raised on climate change adaptation. This is ascertained by the responses given by the interviewees utilized in the research study. Interviewees suggest the intervention of an able and effective leadership that would aid in designing solutions and defining responsibilities for supervising, prioritizing, and subsequent implementation of the proposed strategies and adaptation actions. The leadership would also develop and sustain organized communication between the different actors involved in water resource planning and management in the City of Cape Town.
The Cape Town case study is specifically founded on historical, environmental as well as social realities of water management in order to structure current and future adaptations to climate change. By conducting a careful assessment of the current situation, it is clear that Cape Town lacks in both capacity and leadership. Additionally, there is significant insufficiency in climate change information as well as meaningful communication patterns between sectors and actors. In terms of factors that impede the adaptation of climate change actions, the lack of human capacity to oversee policy implementation is magnificent in Cape Town. Other factors include: scarcity of scientific information to aid in the decision-making process, and weak laws and leadership, leading to a general lack of cooperation between identified actors in the process of effecting climate change adaptation actions in the Cape Town water sector. It is also important to consider those factors that facilitate adaptation to climate change actions. For instance, by identifying those in leadership and who support climate change adaptation actions, a starting point for the advancement of more actions could be achieved.
In responding to such challenges, there is need to link up all the actors in water resource planning and management in Cape Town. The following are the different actors in water planning in the city: Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF), City of Cape Town (CoCT), Department of Agriculture, various major consultancies, University of Cape Town (UCT), and University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN). Each of these different actors has its own major role in advancing the integration of climate change adaptive actions to the water resource planning and management of Cape Town. For instance, current research on climate change is beginning to paint the global south as a major source of useful climate change information in contrast to what was thought of the region some decades or years ago. The emergence of new and useful information – especially from the academic institutions – serves to bridge the gap created by insufficient scientific information on climate change, which tends to be a major challenge as well. On the other hand, policies at the national level should be initiated so as to address the adaptation actions while also replicating the same policies at the municipal and urban levels of Cape Town. Additionally, proper monitoring and evaluation patterns ought to be created in order to eliminate the already existing skepticism about the effectiveness of policy initiation.
Since the support of adaptation to climate change actions will require efficient communication with both leaders and capacity development at every scale, it would be prudent to understand the institutional context that will further help in the identification of excellent leaders as well as their priorities. In summary, sound water planning and management practices initiated today will most likely benefit climate change adaptation in the future as well as present innovative solutions to recent development and upcoming climate change susceptibility (Schipper and Pelling, 2006, pg. 25).
Works Cited
New, M, Climate change and water resources in the southwestern Cape, South Africa, South African Journal of Science, 2002, 98, pp. 1-8.
Schipper, L. and Pelling, M, Disaster risk, climate change and international development: Scope for and challenges to, integration, Disasters, 2006, 30, 1, pp. 19-38.
