The effect of ten years on the capacity component of the Water Poverty Index

Abstract

Water management has been carried out for many centuries wherever there has been a need to provide water to large numbers of people. Complex social norms have developed around water management and competing users have established political (governance) and economic cooperative relationships. Water resources will steadily decline because of population growth, pollution and expected climate change (Hemson et al., 2008). It has been estimated that the global demand for water doubles approximately every two decades (Meyer, 2007) and that water will even become as expensive as oil in the future (Holland, 2005). “In the year 2000, global water use was twice as high as it was in 1960” (Clarke and King, 2004:19). Unfortunately this trend is expected to continue. The aim of this research is to identify whether efforts that were made to improve the capacity component of the water poverty index (WPI) in a region have been successful. It builds on a previous study on a region in Southern Gauteng and the Northern Free State provinces of South Africa, and utilizes the latest Census data to draw a comparison. In the 10 year period from 2001 to 2011 the capacity component of the WPI in the region increased by roughly 15%, which was caused by a significant increase in the educational part of the component. The research concludes that interventions made to increase the educational level of the regions residents have been successful, and that future research should focus on continuously analysing the results of interventions involved in the WPI, thereby ensuring their effectiveness.