The vision of the WWF Water Balance Programme is to challenge and empower corporate South Africa to help create a water secure future by reducing demand, increasing supply and maintaining the health of our high water provisioning catchments.
Water Balance enables forward-thinking water users to become active water stewards, recognising their dependency on water and their responsibility to ensure its future supply. The programme is about balancing one’s water use with positive investments into high water provisioning catchments.
Without these positive investments in the ecosystems, dams and other infrastructure will be rendered useless – water does not come from dams. Apart from economic growth, the immense pressure on South Africa’s freshwater ecosystems is also a result of the impact of invasive alien species. Our limited water supplies are being sucked dry by infestations of invasive trees introduced from other continents. The government, through its Working for Water Programme, is attempting to address this problem; however it will need the commitment from all sectors of society to tackle this immense challenge.
Without these positive investments in the ecosystems, dams and other infrastructure will be rendered useless – water does not come from dams. Apart from economic growth, the immense pressure on South Africa’s freshwater ecosystems is also a result of the impact of invasive alien species. Our limited water supplies are being sucked dry by infestations of invasive trees introduced from other continents. The government, through its Working for Water Programme, is attempting to address this problem; however it will need the commitment from all sectors of society to tackle this immense challenge.
The programme incorporates demand-side management of the country’s water supply through encouraging business and industry in South Africa to voluntarily monitor and reduce (through improved processing efficiencies) their operational water consumption. Simultaneously, programme participants contribute towards water supply-side management through these positive investments. Currently this is achieved by facilitating the clearing of invasive alien vegetation, thus rehabilitating critical catchment areas. Through this innovative approach, the WWF Water Balance Programme achieves the holistic view of water supply management greatly needed in our country.
