Focus
Water is regarded as a scarce resource in Southern Africa and the application of economics in resource management and planning becomes increasingly important. Assigning market principles to allocation options renders results that are used in resource management decision making. Economic and socio-economic research is regarded as an important component of water catchment management projects, since it determines water utilisation by communities and economic activity consumption patterns, which in turn impact upon strategic infrastructure planning and budgeting.
Approach
Urban-Econ has an in-depth understanding of water as a scarce resource in Southern Africa and the challenges facing the Department of Water Affairs in managing and allocating water resources most optimally. Urban-Econ has been involved in various water projects with a view to model water as an economic commodity, or to determine the impact of water as a production factor in the economy or to determine the impact of water infrastructure provision on communities and the economy.
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Urban-Econ has undertaken groundbreaking economic research in the resource sector in Southern Africa, with specific reference to the water industry. Economic market principles and techniques had been applied in innovative ways. Examples include determining the value of water in the economy during production. This experience ensures that the project team will be sensitive towards the relationship between water use and economic production. Furthermore, Urban-Econ was responsible for developing an allocation model where the value of water in sectoral production was used as basis for comparing the most efficient allocation options.
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Recently Completed Projects
- National Waste Discharge Charge System
- Mutale and Nwanedzi River Basins Water Resource Investigation.
- Water balancing model.
- Salinisation in the Middle Vaal River.
- Klein and Middle Letaba Reconnaissance Study.
- Mtata Demographic Study.
- Mokolo Crocodile Water Augmentation Study.
- Waterberg Water Management.
- Institutional System for the Provision of Water and Sanitation in Limpopo
- Economic Value of Water.
- Orange River Replanning
- Orange River Regional Comparative Analysis
- DWAF Indicators for Monitoring of Water Allocation Reform
- De Hoop dam monitoring tool.
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