摘要：South Africa experienced the worst drought in decades in 2016. This current drought has left many towns andcities with extremely compromised water supply systems, and food production has been limited across thecountry, thus placing pressure on the already fragile economy. In order to avert a future water crisis, the countryneeds to reduce its reliance on conventional surface water schemes based on impoundments on rivers and to seekalternative sources of water supply. Within urban areas, municipalities must find ways to adapt to, and mitigatethe threats from, water insecurity resulting from, inter alia, droughts, climate change and increasing water demanddriven by population growth and rising standards of living. Stormwater harvesting (SWH) is one alternative waterresource that could supplement traditional urban water supplies, as well as simultaneously offer a range of benefitsincluding the management of flooding and the provision of recreational areas. For the purposes of this paper, SWHrefers to the collection and storage of run-off from an urban region and its subsequent use irrespective of location,and is usually implemented by the relevant local authority. 1 In comparison, rainwater harvesting is the collectionand storage of run-off from an individual property (usually from the roofs of buildings) and its subsequent privateuse within that property.
关键词：water scarcity;alternative water resources;flood management; climate change resilience; sustainable drainage
