Monetary valuation of salinity impacts and microbial pollution in the Olifants Water Management Area, South Africa

Abstract

This paper estimates costs associated with water pollution in the Olifants River Water Management Area (WMA) in South Africa, and, more specifically, the area represented by the Loskop Dam Water User Association. We focus on the impacts of salinisation on commercial irrigated agriculture, and of microbial pollution on the general population of the WMA, many of whom do not have access to municipal water and sanitation services, leaving them vulnerable to microbial pollution in the water resource. Costs associated with salinity are estimates based on the impacts of increased salinity on the value of marginal product of certain irrigated crops. Costs associated with microbial pollution are estimated based on the direct and indirect costs of human health impacts as a result of microbial pollution in the study area. These monetary value estimates give an indication of the magnitude of the cost of water pollution to society in the WMA. It is concluded that the once-off cost required to provide some pollution prevention infrastructure will be lower than the current annual cost burden of pollution on society in the WMA, and that pollution prevention is therefore cost effective.

Monetary value of the impacts of filamentous green algae on commercial agriculture: Results from two geographically different case studies

“…It complements previous work on salinization and bacterial pollution in the same area (see De Lange et al, 2012) and contributes towards having more inclusive decision-making information for setting up the first water pollution permit trading scheme in South Africa. The paper presents the study areas, discusses the methodological approach, reports the surveyed pollution impacts and presents the calculated monetary value of the impacts of such pollution.…”

The expression of selected genes linked to metabolic homeostasis in obese pansteatitis‐suffering Mozambique tilapia, Oreochromis mossambicus (Peters)

“…Lake Loskop is of commercial importance and supplies irrigation water to approximately 25 600 hectares of agricultural lands, of which a considerable portion of the produce is sourced to foreign markets (Oberholster & Botha ; de Lange et al . ). The lake is an esteemed angling destination, partly due to the large O. mossambicus present; in fact, the current world record O. mossambicus was captured in the lake (IGFA ).…”

“…Coal mines, agriculture, steel smelters, waste-water treatment plants and abandoned mines are likely the most significant contaminant vectors of Lake Loskop via the upper Olifants River (Dabrowski & de Klerk 2013). Lake Loskop is of commercial importance and supplies irrigation water to approximately 25 600 hectares of agricultural lands, of which a considerable portion of the produce is sourced to foreign markets (Oberholster & Botha 2011;de Lange et al 2012). The lake is an esteemed angling destination, partly due to the large O. mossambicus present; in fact, the current world record O. mossambicus was captured in the lake (IGFA 2013).…”

Economic risks due to declining water quality in the Breede River catchment

“…The economic impacts of increasing salinity can be determined in terms of expected decreases in production value of various crop types (De Lange et al, 2012). For instance, the estimated contribution by irrigated fruit in the Breede catchment is around ZAR 6 billion.…”

“…A DWAF study (2001) estimated the cost of treatment for diarrhoea incidents which can be attributed primarily to poor quality water in the Olifants River catchment was around ZAR704 million per year, while the indirect cost was estimated to be around ZAR1 140 million per year for the study area (De Lange et al, 2012).…”