Water stewardship experiences in the Western Cape

This guide, produced by WWF South Africa and partners, outlines water stewardship experiences among stone-fruit farmers in the Western Cape's Breede catchment. It details the application of the Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) standard to mitigate physical, social, regulatory, and reputational risks, providing case studies on irrigation technology, nutrient management, and collective catchment action.

• Agricultural producers in the Western Cape face significant water risks driven by a highly variable climate, climate change predictions of more extreme weather and less rainfall, and a government policy that prioritizes water allocation for urban and industrial uses over agriculture.
• Water risks for farmers in the Breede catchment are categorized into four main areas: direct physical risks (availability, reliability, and quality), social risks (such as theft and vandalism of equipment), regulatory risks (changes in licenses and allocations), and reputational/market risks linked to ecological and social impacts.
• The Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) standard provides a 6-step roadmap (Commit, Gather & Understand, Plan, Implement, Evaluate, Communicate & Disclose) to help sites improve on-site water management and engage in collective action with catchment stakeholders.
• Case studies from nine volunteer farms in the Breede catchment demonstrate various stewardship interventions: Esperanto and Welgemeen moved to flow-based irrigation; Waboomskraal implemented soil moisture probes; Romansrivier reduced fertiliser application by 25kg/ha to lower nutrient runoff; and Denou redesigned irrigation pipelines to prevent theft and vandalism.
• Beyond individual farm boundaries, the project identified three primary catchment-level risks in the upper Breede: water quality issues near growing urban areas, a lack of shared stewardship information, and the presence of alien invasive plants which reduce available water in headwaters.
• Alien invasive plants (IAPs) in South Africa are estimated to consume approximately 3.3 billion cubic meters of water annually, which represents nearly 7% of the country's river flow.
• The National Water Act of 1998 shifted water ownership in South Africa from individual ownership to a national asset managed by the government (Department of Water Affairs and Sanitation), requiring all users to register and receive specific allocations.

APA

Kristensen, A. (n.d.). Water stewardship experiences in the Western Cape. WWF South Africa. http://awsassets.wwf.org.za/downloads/water_stewardship_final.pdf

Chicago

Kristensen, Anette. Water stewardship experiences in the Western Cape. WWF South Africa, n.d. http://awsassets.wwf.org.za/downloads/water_stewardship_final.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Kristensen |first1=Anette |title=Water stewardship experiences in the Western Cape |publisher=WWF South Africa |url=http://awsassets.wwf.org.za/downloads/water_stewardship_final.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{kristensenndwater, author = {Kristensen, Anette}, title = {{Water stewardship experiences in the Western Cape}}, institution = {WWF South Africa}, url = {http://awsassets.wwf.org.za/downloads/water_stewardship_final.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }