South Africa s mean annual rainfall is about 475 mm. This is further illustrated by the fact that recent figures released by the United Nations Organisation indicate that South Africa rates 11th from the bottom on an index of 50 Countries in the World with the least annual renewable water availability per capita. We are in the company of Countries like Egypt, Lebanon and Peru. We are about to cross the latter threshold. From South Africa s geographic makeup, it is clear that our major demand centres, particularly Gauteng and the surrounding areas, are located far from the exploitable resources.
Some irrigation schemes use large quantities of water in sub-optimal areas.
Most of our easily utilisable dam sites have already been developed. Dams on other less suitable sites will obviously cost more. In many cases, such as on the Mgeni River, we have a series of dams, such as Midmar, Albert Falls, Nagle and Inanda. With developments such as these, one soon reaches saturation point, above which, additional investment, yields diminishing returns. South Africa has a rapidly rising population, but with our drive to supply water to the rural communities and meet their aspirations to improved living standards in our new democracy, our water demand is increasing at a much greater rate.