State of the Environment - South Africa: Freshwater Systems and Resources: Driving Forces


National State of the Environment Report - South Africa
Main Issues:	Climate	Terrestrial	Water	Marine	Social	Economic	Political	Home page

This part of the report contains the following sub-sections:
Overview	Introduction	Driving forces	Pressure	State	Impact	Response
Outcome	Linkages	Data issues	Conclusions	References	Indicators	Links

Driving forces affecting freshwater systems and resources

There are three main driving forces affecting South Africa's freshwater environment see Figure 3.1. Firstly, the natural conditions, particularly climate (see Climate and Atmospheric Change section), which combines low rainfall with high evaporation rates, which together create low availability of run-off.

Figure 3.1 Diagram showing the three main driving forces affecting South Africa's freshwater environment

Second is the rapid population growth (see Social Dimensions section), and need for development through economic activities (see Economic Dimensions section) leading to greater water demand and increased pollution of available resources. A third driving force is the policy pertaining to management of water resources,which determines the approach taken by relevant authorities at all levels of government to managing the resource and directly impacts other driving forces and pressures (see Policy). Figure 3.1 shows the main influences that these driving forces have on the aquatic environment and their impacts.

> Freshwater: Pressures

There is also information about Freshwater Systems and Resources in the following reports:
Metropolitan reports:
	Cape Metropolitan Council (1998 edition)	Durban Pilot Study
	Greater Johannseburg Metropolitan Council (1999 edition)	Greater Pretoria Metropolitan Council (1999 edition)