Water Wheel Sept/Oct 2026: Irrigation Water Management

Abstract

From irrigation pioneer to global impact: the SAPWAT legacy lives on Behind most water allocation decisions in South Africa lies SAPWAT, a decision support tool developed by South Africa’s own esteemed water expert, Dr Pieter van Heerden. For more than two decades, the South African Plant Water Model has been the national standard for irrigation planning, widely used by farmers, advisors, researchers, managers and the government. Dr van Heerden has been a custodian of the software since the early days of the tool’s development, a choice that would define his internationally celebrated career and change the face of water allocation across many parts of the globe. Close to his eightieth birthday, Dr van Heerden and his close collaborator, wife Gela, with the continuous support of the Water Research Commission (WRC), have now handed the baton over to the University of the Free State (UFS), ending a historic chapter and heralding the next, which will bring critical updates in line to the tool, with new climate variability and change, and operating environments.

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