Appraising the lifecycle costs of SA's interbasin water transfer projects

Abstract

Water resource development From the 1960s South Africa has seen an increasing number of IBTs being constructed to meet its growing water demands. One of the most sophisticated of these is the complex interconnected Vaal River system, which includes a number of IBTs constructed to serve the economic heartland of the country. The most well-known of these IBTs is the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) of which planning of Phase 2 is currently underway. IBTs often involve pumping water to overcome differences in elevation. The associated energy costs typically form a significant part of the lifecycle costs of IBTs, and it is expected that such energy costs will proportionally increase in future as water has to be sourced from more distant basins. It is therefore important that a robust appraisal methodology be followed when assessing the costs of water transfers of future IBT projects. A conceptual inaccuracy has, for decades, been part of the water engineering standards of practice so that certain calculations are generally calculated incorrectly.

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