The South African Cities Network (SACN) has included water management on its agenda as one of its focus areas under the Strategic Objective – Dealing with City Vulnerabilities of the 2016 Business Plan – owing to the growing threat of freshwater scarcity largely as a consequence of increasing demand, pollution, unsustainable use and climate change. To facilitate the reporting on water and its management by the SACN, this research project was commissioned and awarded to WR Nyabeze and Associates (WRNA). The main
objective for this research was to conduct an assessment of the current state and quality of water infrastructure within cities as well as the condition of the freshwater resources (rivers and wetlands). This would facilitate the determination of infrastructural and human capacity needs and allow for implementation of adequate resource monitoring protocols. SACN would then be well placed to provide assistance to these cities to improve their alignment with the national imperatives of good water management to achieve food and energy security, ecosystems conservation and reduction of risks from water scarcity (climate change). This document contributes to addressing the above objective through:
i) Determining indicators that adequately describe/determine the current state and quality of water infrastructure within the cities.
ii) Presenting the indicators populated with available data.
iii) Analyzing the indicator data to facilitate the assessment of the cities alignment with the national imperatives of good water management.