Embracing Water-Energy-Climate Change in South Africa Through the Integrated Water Resource Management Approach

The influence of resources such as water, energy, land, and food on each other prompted global communities to investigate their role in the sustainable development discourse and develop contemporary measures to address interlinkages between these systems. The current study sought to understand and explore the WECC nexus in South Africa, with the view to promote a holistic and coordinated approach in its analysis. This was achieved within the discourse of Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) framework. This approach was driven by the centric role that water plays towards energy generation and other subsectors of the economy despite its scarcity in the country. A mixed-method approach was applied to verify and apprehend the challenges emanating from this nexus. The study revealed that, despite limited understanding and lack of collaboration amongst key stakeholders, the interlinkage between the systems of water, energy, and climate change is inevitable in South Africa. Moreover, the results of the study shows that, like most communities around the globe, South Africa is still lagging in research and development of policies aimed at holistically managing this nexus. The study recommended that South Africa adopt a water-centric approach to improve evidence-based institutional and policy framework to address the myriad challenges of this nexus in a holistic and integrated manner. Furthermore, an effective stakeholder engagement which will result in a collaborative and coordinated decision-making process, and data management systems should be promoted in the country.