Johannesburg - City on a watershed

Abstract

Urban water supply J ohannesburg’s location is both its gift and its curse. On the one hand, the gold-bearing reef that is the reason for its existence has shaped it into the economic heartland of the country. On the other hand, it is one of the few cities in the world not located close to one of the most important resources necessary to sustain its growth: water. Indeed, where other major cities in the world have developed close to rivers, seas or other water sources, the Witwatersrand metropolitan area has been described as one of the largest concentrations of people so far away from one. The nearest river of any significance, the Vaal, is about 70 km away. Since gold was discovered on the Rand in 1886, the once dusty mining town has grown into a metropolis that houses a quarter of South Africa’s population and is responsible for about 10% of the continent’s economic activity. As the city has grown in size, however, so has its thirst for water, with formidable consequences for its bulk water supplier – Rand Water, established in 1903.

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