Spatial planning and land-use management tools in aid of securing water sustainability: the case study of Mogalakwena Local Municipality in South Africa

Abstract

The concept of Water-Sensitive Settlements is gaining importance within broader sustainability thinking. There is limited research in urban planning literature, in particular, on the quantitative impact of land-use decisions on water resources. This article proposes a spatial modelling approach that combines land-use and water-consumption data in order to identify areas of intervention, which could feed into future development plans and strategies. The research considers the Mogalakwena Local Municipality as a case study, because of its socio-economic characteristics as well as the spatial and billing data that were generated from an ongoing research project funded by the Water Research Commission. It was evident that spatial modelling of land use and water consumption can be utilised as a tool to determine the impact of land-use decision on water resources. Having generated spatial information on ‘where’ and by ‘which’ land use the demand for water is highest, municipal planners are able to make informed future land-use decisions, which will ultimately affect water resources. In addition, the information can be used to enforce new thinking within the municipal spatial planning domain on, among others, implementing water-sensitive mitigation measures such as revisiting water tariff structures; re-evaluating the promised level of services; implementing water-efficiency building regulations, and rethinking the business-as-usual approach to settlement planning

Die belangrikheid van die konsep Water Sensitiewe Nedersettings neem toe binne die raamwerk van breër volhoubaarheidsdenke. Daar is beperkte navorsing, veral in stedelike beplanningsliteratuur, oor die kwantitatiewe impak van grondgebruiksbesluite op water as ʼn hulpbron. Die navorsing in hierdie artikel stel ’n ruimtelike modelleringsbenadering voor wat grondgebruik- en waterverbruikdata kombineer ten einde areas van ingryping te identifiseer en wat ingesluit kan word in toekomstige ontwikkelingsplanne en -strategieë. Die navorsing gebruik die Mogalakwena Plaaslike Munisipaliteit as gevallestudie weens sy sosio-ekonomiese eienskappe, asook die ruimtelike en faktuurdata wat uit ’n deurlopende navorsingsprojek gegenereer is, befonds deur die Waternavorsingskommissie. Daar is oortuigend bewys dat ruimtelike modellering gebruik kan word as hulpmiddel om die impak van grondgebruikbesluite te rig, asook om groei patrone te stimuleer. Met ruimtelike inligting oor ‘waar’ en deur ‘watter’ grondgebruik die vraag na water die hoogste is, kan munisipale beplanners ingeligte toekomstige grondgebruikbesluite neem wat uiteindelik weer sal impakteer op waterhulpbronne. Daarbenewens kan die inligting gebruik word om nuwe denke in die munisipale ruimtelike beplanningsdomein op te stel. Dit sluit ondermeer in die implementering van maatreëls soos die hersiening van waterbetalingstrukture, die herbeoordeling van die beloofde vlak van dienste, die implementering van waterdoeltreffendheidsbouregulasies, en die heroorweging van die tradisionele benadering tot nedersettingsbeplanning

Taba ya bodulo bo nang le tlhokomelo ya metsi (WSS) bo ntse bo fumanwa bo le bohlokwa monahanong wa ho boloka. Diphuputso tse teng di nyenyane bakeng sa kgahlamelo ya dipalopalo hodima diqeto tsa tshebediso ya lefatshe ho disebediswa tsa metsi, haholoholo dingolweng tsa tlhophiso ya ditoropo. Atikele ena e hlahisa mokgwa wa popo ya sepakapaka e kopanyang tshebediso ya lefatshe le pokello ya dintlha tsa tshebediso ya metsi ho bontsha dibaka tsa bonamodi, tse ka fepang merero ya ntlafatso le maano a nako e tlang. Diphuputso di sheba Mmasepala wa selehae wa Mogalakwena jwalo ka thuto ya mehlala, ka lebaka la matshwao a moruo wa setjhaba Mmasepaleng; ha mmoho le pokello ya dintlha tsa sepakapaka le ditefello; tse ileng tsa fumanwa ho tswa projekeng ya diphuputso e tswellang pele, e lefelletsweng ke Water Research Committee. Ho totobetse hore popo ya sepakapaka tshebedisong ya lefatshe le metsi, di ka sebediswa jwalo ka disebediswa bakeng sa ho hlahisa tshusumetso qetong ya tshebediso ya lefatshe hodima disebediswa tsa metsi. Ka ho hlahisa tlhahisoleseding ya sepakapaka ka hore ke ‘kae’ le hore ‘ke se feng’ sebaka seo tlhoko ya sona ya metsi e leng hodimo ka ho fetisisa, bahlophisi ba Mmasepala ba kgona ho etsa diqeto tse tsebisahalang tsa bokamoso tse amang mehlodi ya lefatshe, tseo qetellong di tla ba le kgahlamelo ho disebediswa tsa metsi. Ho tlatselletsa, tlhahisoleseding e ka sebediswa ho tiisa monahano o motjha tlhophisong ya sepakapaka sebakeng sa Mmasepala; e kenyelletsang ho fokotsa mekgwa ya tshenyo ya metsi, jwalo ka ho matlafatsa dibopeho tsa ditefiso tsa metsi, tekolobotjha ya boemo boo ho tshepisanweng ka bona ba ho fana ka ditshebeletso, ho phethahatsa melao ya metsi e ahang bokgoni le ho nahana botjha mokgwa wa kgwebo-ka-tlwaelo ha ho tluwa tlhophisong ya bodulo