WWF, The South African Breweries Ltd (SAB) and the government's Working for Water Programme today (8 October 2008) launched what is believed to be the world's first fully quantitative water neutral scheme. Aimed primarily at the private sector, the innovative scheme allows participants to quantitatively balance their water-usage accounts through a three-step process of reviewing, reducing and replenishing water supplies.

 

Speaking at the launch, Dr Deon Nel, Head of the WWF Sanlam Living Waters Partnership, said: "The concept of water neutrality, based on its carbon equivalent, has been used loosely over the past years; however, until now no-one has been able to quantitatively justify these claims. We believe that our scheme is the first in the world that allows participants to truly claim to be water neutral."

 

He explained that participants will replenish water supplies by investing in projects that quantitatively supplement water supplies equal to their water usage. As a start, participants will invest in the clearing and rehabilitation of areas infested with water-intensive invasive alien trees. This will be done in partnership with the Working for Water Programme (a multi-departmental initiative lead by the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry, forming part of the Expanded Public Works Programme), which creates more than 30 000 much-needed employment opportunities in rural areas each year. 

 

"The impact of these invasive trees on our water resources cannot be overstated. South Africa loses more than 3 300-million kilolitres of water, the equivalent of 26 large dams, annually to these infestations. The fact that the project makes a significant contribution to job-creation and poverty alleviation makes it even more significant in the South African socio-economic context," Dr Nel added.

 

WWF is urging widespread investment in the scheme and believes that water should be top of mind for any major corporation that is planning a medium- to long-term future in this country. "If we wish to avert a 'water-shedding' scenario, the equivalent of 'load-shedding', we need to invest in water security now. Currently more than 98% of South Africa's available water supplies are allocated. With limited options left for new dams, ever-increasing demand due to economic growth and unfavourable climate change predictions, we need to think innovatively about how we manage our water supplies."

 

Dr Nel emphasised that providing a water-secure future for South Africa is a collective responsibility and will require both demand- and supply-side investments. "The WWF Water Neutral Scheme provides an elegant way for corporations to make such investments that balance their water accounts."

 

Apart from being a founding partner in the development of the scheme, SAB has also committed two of its breweries, Newlands and the Ibhayi Brewery in Port Elizabeth, to becoming water-neutral.

 

"For SAB, the conservation and responsible usage of water is not only the right thing to do, but it is central to the success of our business. Without sustainable and safe water supplies, we simply cannot brew beer," said Richard Chance, SAB's Corporate Responsibility Manager. "We operate in a semi-arid country, and water quality and availability is a key priority for South Africa. As a large-scale water user, it is incumbent on SAB to be a leader in the field of water management - and we are."

 

Mr Chance said that SAB's water usage levels, at an average of 4.4 hectolitres of water used for every hectolitre of beer produced, was already well within the UN Environment Programme's standard of five to six hl/hl. "We are regarded as a low water user within the brewing industry. But we are aiming to do even better, with rates under 4hl/hl. Similarly, we aim to bring our water-to-soft drink ratio to below 2hl/hl."

 

In 2006, he said, the Ibhayi Brewery set itself a target of 3.6hl/hl over a three-year period, and had so far achieved 3.62hl/hl. At the Newlands Brewery, consumption over the past three years had been reduced from over 6hl/hl to 4.15hl/hl through several innovative measures and the installation of 75 water meters to accurately gauge water consumption, and its target this year was to achieve 3.95hl/hl.

 

"Over the past two years SAB has made effective use of company-wide reporting measures on water consumption, which assist us to report on, manage and monitor water consumption. Most of our breweries also have their own waste-water treatment plants, to ensure that effluent discharged back to municipalities is often actually cleaner than the water supplied to us in the first place.

 

"We are committed to further improving our water consumption performance through creative, collaborative and co-ordinated water and effluent management interventions, further reducing our water-to-beer and water-to-soft drink ratios, continuing to define optimal water usage at all seven of our breweries, and working with municipalities to address infrastructural and supply challenges," said Mr Chance.

 

"SAB also fully supports the ideals of the WWF Water Neutral Scheme, which very closely reflect the company's aims and beliefs regarding water management. We hope that many South African companies will follow suit and realise the great value of conserving one of our planet's most precious and vital resources, to the benefit of all."

 

Professor Kader Asmal, former Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry and now patron of the WWF Water Neutral Scheme, said at the launch: "Water availability is one of the most decisive factors that will affect the economic development of this country. Water runs through every layer of our aspirations as a nation. By investing in the WWF Water Neutral Scheme, participants are investing in the future of our country, the well-being of our societies, and the human rights and dignity of the most vulnerable."

The concept of water neutrality, based on its carbon equivalent, was first coined during the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002. Since then the term has been loosely used, with little quantitative validation.

 

Water neutrality implies a voluntary process whereby participants seek to quantitatively balance their water use accounts by both reducing their water usage and investing in projects which increase supplies of clean fresh water. Water neutrality therefore implies balancing the demand and supply of water through a deliberate intervention by the water user.

 

The WWF Water Neutral Scheme is a partnership between civil society, through WWF South Africa, and government, through its Working for Water Programme, that allows water users to quantitatively balance their water use account.

To harness private sector commitment for the security and wise management of South Africa's scarce water resources, by reducing water demand and investing in the security of our water supplies.

Participants are encouraged to become water neutral through a three-step process (known as R3) of:

1.      Review: Participants are required to undertake a detailed water audit to accurately measure their operational water usage. The results of this audit, known as the company's 'water deficit', need to be publicly available to promote transparency and open dialogue.

2.      Reduce: In partnership with WWF South Africa, corporations are required to develop and implement an ambitious, but realistic, time-bound water reduction and efficiency strategy. 

3.      Replenish: Corporations are then required to invest in projects that will make available 'new' water into freshwater ecosystems, equal to their 'water deficit' (i.e. the net outcome of Steps 1 and 2). While we believe that there may be numerous projects that could quantitatively deliver 'new' clean water, as a start, we have concentrated our efforts on the quantification of water made available through the removal of invasive alien plants. The large amount of data available on the topic through the current and historic experiences of the Working for Water Programme made this an obvious first choice. To facilitate the calculation of how investments need to be made for a given corporation to become Water Neutral, we have developed a 'Water Neutral Calculator'.

The Water Neutral Calculator determines the investments that a company needs to make to become water neutral through the removal of invasive alien plants. The calculator is based on two principal input values:

 

1. The average amount of water 'replenished' through the clearing of a hectare of invasive alien plants and maintaining it in a rehabilitated state; and

2. The average cost of clearing a hectare of invasive alien plants and maintaining it in a rehabilitated state.

 

The amount of hectares of invasive alien trees that a water user would need to finance to be cleared to become water neutral, is therefore calculated by dividing the water user's 'water deficit' by the average amount of water replenished through the clearing of a hectare of invasive alien trees (2540m3/year).

 

Water users may choose how they wish to structure their water offsets over the first 10 years of the minimum 20 year investment period. Annual payments are then calculated using a matrix model constructed in Microsoft Excel.

This work represents one of the first examples of a water neutral scheme that quantitatively balances a water user's account through investments in both demand and supply side management. Within the context of a chronically water stressed developing country with huge economic development pressures and social upliftment challenges, the WWF Water Neutral Scheme holds much promise of providing environmental, economic and social benefits through a voluntary market-based mechanism.

 

The total annual amount of water used by industrial and urban users in South Africa, the main target market for this scheme, is estimated to be 3,652 million m3. Interestingly, this amount is very similar to the 3,300 million m3 of water estimated to be used by invasive alien trees. Even a modest 10% market uptake of this scheme could therefore deliver significant benefits in terms of increased water yield, management of invasive alien trees, biodiversity restoration and employment creation. Some of South Africa's largest corporations, including The South African Breweries (SAB) Ltd and Sanlam, have already committed to the scheme.