The human factor

'In Maloti-Drakensberg, we found very complex conditions with, of course, important differences compared with the Alps,' says Stefano. "The state of the infrastructure is precarious and degraded, while the region is experiencing a demographic boom. These two elements are the main factors that generate water shortages in the area.'

In Maloti-Drakensberg, Stefano Terzi was accompanied by Jessica Delves, Programme Associate at the Centre for Global Mountain Safeguard Research. To analyse water management in the area and the associated risks, the two opted for an exploratory approach. "While in Alpine areas we have very good data from weather stations and extremely accurate maps, this is not the case in South Africa. That is why we used a mixed approach, combining quantitative data, when available, with information gathered by talking to people on the ground."

The small research team conducted 30 interviews involving farmers, academics, and the so-called chiefs or community leaders of the area. "The idea was to have no preconceptions and to reconstruct the history and issues of water management in the region in an inductive way. The more we listened, the more we were able to outline a coherent story'.

Among the most pressing issues is who makes the decisions, namely on governance. In the past, it was exclusively the chiefs of the communities who ran the territory. Since 1994, the end of apartheid, the democratically elected government and the chiefs have both begun to govern - sometimes independently of each other. Today, these two modes often clash and making long-term decisions is difficult. "A peculiarity that we have observed is the fact that houses are often built over the main aqueduct lines, which are illegally connected to the aqueduct without any planning. This creates breaks in the aqueduct’s pipes and results in huge problems to repair them. Exacerbating the risks of water shortages are also problems with the electricity supply. Frequent blackouts render the pumps and, consequently, entire sections of the aqueduct useless.

"Cultural and economic differences are among the elements that must be considered in the creation of the shared table on water management that we are working on. Without working on shared management, conflicts are bound to escalate when the water resource is no longer plentiful enough for everyone. In this case, those who live in the upstream territories are - so to speak - advantaged," concludes Stefano Terzi.

Integrating socioeconomic variables within water resource analysis and forecasting models is among the goals of the Nexogenesis project. Between 2022 and early 2023 in the Adige case study, the Eurac Research team organized a series of meetings and interviews to bring different people and companies who use water from the Adige River to the same table. For example, the most well-attended meeting in Trento included the operators of the Santa Giustina hydroelectric power plant, associations of fishers, the Provincial Water Resources Agency of Trento, representatives among farmers, and, of course, local administrators. It was one of the first times that so many “consumers” of water from the Adige River were at the same table.