African cities are developing rapidly and existing water management systems cannot keep up, leading to a projected quadrupling in demand for water over the next 25 years, said ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability – Africa professional officer Tarryn Quayle during the Water Institute of South Africa’s biennial conference and exhibition, held at the Durban International Convention Centre earlier this month.

“Now is the time to reimagine our urban future, to redesign and proactively plan our infrastructure for the urban challenges and opportunities of tomorrow . . . to develop thriving and sustainable urban communities.”

She explained that concerted efforts were needed by decision-makers to find innovative solutions to address the existing backlog in water and sanitation services, while extending infrastructure to serve new developments.

ICLEI cited figures from the World Health Organisation and United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund published in 2010, which suggested 565-million people still used unimproved sanitation and 330-million were using unimproved drinking water in sub- Saharan Africa.

“This, in turn, relates to poor sanitation and solid-waste management, as well as hygiene- and drinking-water-related diseases, which have led to many deaths in the region, but can effectively be addressed through the provision of basic services in African urban settlements,” said Quayle.

Quayle, who has ten years’ experience working in development in Africa, focusing on water and sanitation, and climate change adaptation encompassing governance, knowledge management and capacity development at local government level, also noted that Africa was projected to be one of the regions most impacted on by climate change and its related fallout.

“Climate variability still has a great impact on water, delivering many of its blows through floods, droughts or extreme rainfall . . . intensifying existing challenges.”

Quayle argued that traditional approaches to urban water operations and investments have, in many cases, not taken the interdependent nature of water resources and urban service delivery into account.

This has led to increasingly forward thinking governments, urban planners and water managers re-examining development processes for municipal water and wastewater services, recognising the value of an integrated approach in considering the technical, financial, operational and institutional implications.

“There is an urgent need for integrated and collaborative governance at all levels . . . to ensure improved service delivery in the sector. This necessitates not only ensuring that there are integrated policies and governance structures for water and sanitation at a service delivery level, but also including water resources and effectively monitoring and reporting to track progress . . . to improve service delivery and access to services.”

Way Forward

Quayle stated that the Southern Africa Development Community had recently completed a review of the Regional Water Supply and Sanitation Programme for the region.

“This review recognised the urgent need for effective standardised monitoring and reporting systems and indicators for the sector, which could provide an excellent baseline in the future for other countries in Africa.”

At local government level, cities across the continent were leading the way regarding the improvement of water security and water conservation by adopting large- and small-scale water reuse systems and improved stormwater management systems, Quayle added.

Education and skills development at all levels of government were required to maintain improved water security and conservation, she noted, adding that World Water Day 2016 focused on the theme of Water and Jobs, calling for a refreshed approach toward training in the water sector.

“There are a number of strong programmes and initiatives on the continent at local government and utility level focusing on capacity development in the sector.” This has subsequently ensured that focus has shifted to training more engineers, technicians and community workers to improve water and sanitation service delivery in the future.

One of the initiatives mentioned by Quayle that had garnered substantial interest from local governments across the continent was the Africa Water and Sanitation Local Authorities (AWASLA) network. As a secretariat of ICLEI Africa, AWASLA is a new Pan-African network involved in the urban water cycle, focusing on water supply, sanitation, storm- and wastewater management.

“AWASLA provides a unique platform, enabling local governments to exchange knowledge and good practice, consider emerging challenges and innovations and explore collaborative action. The platform seeks a paradigm shift for more sustainable, resilient and equitable urban water and sanitation practices in Africa,” Quayle stated.

She noted that AWASLA aimed to promote knowledge exchange and capacity through facilitating peer-to-peer knowledge exchange and best practice that is emerging regionally and internationally, as well as foster collaboration through interactive and facilitated discussion and debate.

“AWASLA plans on connecting local governments and sub- national decision-makers across sectors, leading researchers and scientists, institutions, communities and external support agencies committed to addressing the challenges and opportu- nities for urban water and sanitation in African cities,” Quayle concluded.