KSA : KSA 1&2 (Water Resource Management and Ecosystems)
Thrust 5: RESOURCE QUALITY AND MANAGEMENT
Programme P3: Source water protection
Title : Developing Long and Short Term Technical Solutions, Mitigation Measures and Decision Support Strategies that will Improve Water Quality in the Grootdraai Dam Catchment global competitiveness
ToR ID : 1009895
Contact Person: Dr Eunice Ubomba-Jaswa euniceuj@wrc.org.za
Closing Date : 26 January 2021
Brief description of ToR
The Grootdraai Dam catchment located within the Integrated Vaal River System (IVRS) serves several
users who are heavily involved in pertinent activities critical to sustaining the economy of South Africa.
Over the years there have been subtle changes to the water quality in the dam which have been observed
by raw water users. This change in quality could be driven by both natural hazards as well as manmade
anthropogenic activities. Seasonality also seems to have an influence on the water quality observed in
the catchment. The overall predominant observed trend is that of deteriorating water quality within most
of the catchment. The loss in water quality has already had a negative impact on the operations of some
strategic users of the dam, as water quality is no longer of the standard needed to meet operational
requirements. Secondly, the loss in water quality drives the need to abstract larger volumes of water to
ensure effective operation levels. This abstraction of larger volumes of water is not sustainable in a
catchment that is already fairly water scarce. A decrease in the amount of water in the catchment will
have a spinoff negative effect socially, economically and environmentally.
