Eastern Cape site of successful water-neutral scheme

South African Breweries is supporting the pilot project which could release up to thousands of litres of water back into the ecosystem.

The World Wide Fund for nature (WWF) and government's Working for Water (WfW) programme launched a fully quantitative water neutral scheme, and has achieved significant results at the South African Breweries (SAB) pilot project site in the Eastern Cape.

Similar to the more popular carbon neutral schemes, water neutrality relies on individual companies voluntarily adhering to the water neutral principles of: review; reduce; and replenish.

Under review, a company first determines its water usage, monitors this, and then establishes targets to reduce its operational water consumption. The company then offsets the residual, by investing in replenishing projects that clear invasive alien vegetation, which severely threatens freshwater ecosystems in South Africa.

WWF Living waters manager Dr Deon Nel explains that in order for private sector companies to buy into the water neutral scheme, it is "important to crack the calculations and quantities. This meant years of data collection to measure water replenishment."

The WWF and WfW are now able to calculate how many hectares of area affected by invasive alien vegetation would need to be cleared and rehabilitated, in order to ‘free-up' a certain amount of water back into the river system.

For example, calculations have shown that clearing a riparian area of invasive alien vegetation can release up to 3 000 m3/ha cleared a day, back into the ecosystem.

The water neutral concept creates opportunities for corporations to get involved in water security and get the entire company to consider the issue. "The private sector can engage with this model. Corporations must understand, and make the connection with the ecosystems that provide the services that underpin their business," Nel adds.

The traditional engineering approach to water management of building a dam when there is not enough water, is simply not enough to cope with South Africa's water constraints. "This project highlights the importance of taking an ecological and social approach to water management," Nel continues.

"If we did not intervene we could lose up to 16% of usable water through invasive alien vegetation," emphasises WfW Working on Fire & Working for Woodlands operations head Christo Marais.

South African Breweries (SAB) is supporting WWF in the initial pilot project of the water neutral scheme, and has contributed about R2,5-million for the two year pilot phase, which started in September 2008.

Other companies taking up the water neutral challenge are insurance giant Sanlam, and South African retailer Woolworths.

"Government has spent some R600-million on the clearing of invasive aliens, and we still cannot conquer the problem. We need private sector involvement," says Marais.

The pilot focuses on making two of SAB's breweries, namely the Newlands brewery in Cape Town, and the Ibhayi brewery in Port Elizabeth, water neutral by clearing two specifically chosen sites of invasive alien plants.

On a site visit to the Eastern Cape, Engineering News viewed how part of SAB's investment was being used to clear a 172-ha area bordering the Baviaanskloof Mega-Reserve, of invasive plants. It was calculated that SAB would need to clear 172 ha for its Ibhayi brewery to be water neutral.

The clearing takes place in the Kouga catchment area. A number of tributaries in the area feed into the Kouga river, which supplies the Kouga dam - a main water source for Port Elizabeth, and thus, SAB's Ibhayi brewery.

Kouga riparian rehabilitation project manager Saskia Fourie explains that 58 ha have already been cleared of invasive plants since the project began in September.

The clearing is taking place on a working game farm called Terra Pi, and everyday operations, such as the co-ordination of the 12-person clearing teams, are managed by the farm manager. Participation and buy-in from the landowner is important, as they play an important role in, and also stand to benefit from the process.

The Witteklip River runs through the area being cleared, and portions of the river, which had completely stopped flowing, are running once again. The area has not had rain over the period, and although not scientifically proven, anecdotal evidence suggests that it is the clearing of the 58 ha that has led to the river flowing once again.

The invasives, mainly black wattle (Acacia mearnsii) in this case, thrive in the ecologically important riparian zones - the areas adjacent the river or tributary, and replace the indigenous vegetation and alter ecosystem functioning.

"These plants are not only a threat to biodiversity, but also to water resources," WWF water neutral scheme manager Rodney February explains.

"It is estimated that alien invasives use about 7% of the mean annual runoff a year (equivalent to some 3 300-million cubic metres of water a year. This reduces the ability to farm, intensifies flooding and fires, causes erosion and siltation of dams and estuaries, results in poor water quality, and can cause the extinction of indigenous plants and animals," February says.

He notes that the growth of the alien vegetation even changes migration patterns of larger mammals as they can no longer make their way through the black wattle, which grows at a very rapid rate.

February notes that the pilot projects under SAB are set for completion in July 2010. SAB has indicated an intention to continue with the water neutral scheme once the pilot is complete, and perhaps offset water usage at more of its global operations.

The second site where SAB is clearing invasives is on Table Mountain in Cape Town. Here another 172 ha of land will be cleared, this time on land owned by South African National Parks, to offset water usage from the brewing giant's Newlands operations.

February and Fourie explain that the importance of the pilot project is to establish a best practice for clearing, as well as the subsequent rehabilitation and restoration of the land. The WWF team involved in the project is testing new protocols for clearing and rehabilitation, as well as establishing a management tool for working with landowners.

Rehabilitation of the land is vital for functionality. "We must restore the natural systems and rectify the degradation," adds Marais.

WfW assistant project manager Justice Ngcengane explains that rehabilitation entails the planting of pioneer species, including grasses, daisies and pelargoniums, and these suppress the re-growth of invasives and fight soil erosion.

The major challenge for the projects currently, is the issue of what to do with the trees once they have been cut down. Once cleared, the biomass is collected and piled on the ground. When left it poses a fire hazard, as well as a risk of being moved, and causing damage if flooding were to occur.

Because the Baviaanskloof is in such a difficult to access, mountainous area, the biomass cannot be easily collected, and will eventually be burnt in a controlled burn.

Other options for clearing of the biomass are being investigated. "We are testing different methodologies for the biomass. We need to develop the best management practices - the most cost effective option with optimal benefit," says Fourie.

Numerous companies have shown interest in the water neutral programme, and once best practice guidelines and protocols have been established, it is envisaged that the programme can be extended and more companies can become water neutral.

WWF is carrying out studies on other ways of becoming water neutral, for example through changes in land practices. WWF could then essentially offer a corporation a ‘suite of products' to engage with the problem.

"Projects like this seek to make the connection between the urban centres, where companies can do things to help an ecosystem - enhance its health and secure the services it provides," says Nel.

"Water neutral gives you calculated, quantifiable water benefits, but also has a biodiversity impact, which is not as easily quantified, as well as agricultural benefits. It even has benefits for the efficiency of dams," states Marais.

"The WWF water neutral scheme reflects SAB's aims and beliefs regarding water management. For the company, 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," highlights SAB corporate social investment manager Nicola Jowell.

Indeed, the company has gone a step further than merely its own operations, and has inspected the water consumption footprint of its entire supply chain, and is now starting work with barley farms to reduce water consumption.

SAB has made a commitment across its operations worldwide, and set itself the target of reducing its average water use per litre of beer by 25% by 2015. This could save around 20-billion litres of water globally every year by 2015 - enough to fill eight thousand olympic-sized swimming pools.

SAB says its current usage in the beer division is 4,4 litres of water used for every litre of beer produced - against the global industry average in 2008 of 5 litres. The company's target is to reduce this to below 4 litres of water for every litre of beer over the next few years.