Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Acknowledgements
- 1 The economics of ecosystem services and poverty
- Part I Biodiversity-related ecosystem services
- Part II Marine-related ecosystem services
- Part III Forest-related ecosystem services
- Part IV Water-related ecosystem services
- 12 Small-scale water harvesting and household poverty in northern Ethiopia
- 13 Water services, dam management and poverty in the Inner Niger Delta in Mali
- 14 The environmental and social impacts of flood defences in rural Bangladesh
- 15 Double dividends of additional water charges in South Africa
- Part V Land-related ecosystem services
- Index
- References
15 - Double dividends of additional water charges in South Africa
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 July 2013
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Acknowledgements
- 1 The economics of ecosystem services and poverty
- Part I Biodiversity-related ecosystem services
- Part II Marine-related ecosystem services
- Part III Forest-related ecosystem services
- Part IV Water-related ecosystem services
- 12 Small-scale water harvesting and household poverty in northern Ethiopia
- 13 Water services, dam management and poverty in the Inner Niger Delta in Mali
- 14 The environmental and social impacts of flood defences in rural Bangladesh
- 15 Double dividends of additional water charges in South Africa
- Part V Land-related ecosystem services
- Index
- References
Summary
Introduction
The purpose of this chapter is to show how double dividends could be obtained from using market instruments to tax water use in a developing country. The double dividends are namely environmental (water conservation) on the one hand, and poverty reduction dividends on the other. We apply a water tax on selected industries in South Africa to reduce demand for water, and then transfer the revenue from this tax to the poor to achieve reduction in absolute levels of poverty.
South Africa is classified as a semi-arid country. Precipitation has been fluctuating over the years with an average of 500 mm per annum, well below the world average of about 860 mm (DWAF 2002). The total flow of all the rivers in the country combined amounts to approximately 49 200 million m³ per year, while the National Water Resource Strategy estimated the total water requirement for the year 2000 at 13 280 million m3 per year, excluding environmental requirements. In addition, South Africa is poorly endowed in groundwater as most of the country is underlain by hard rock formations that do not contain any major groundwater aquifers (DWAF 2002).
While currently only about 24% of rural people have access to water on site, additional sources of water supply are environmentally, financially and politically hard to develop. At the same time, unemployment in rural areas of South Africa is extremely high, which results in severe poverty conditions in these areas.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Nature's WealthThe Economics of Ecosystem Services and Poverty, pp. 315 - 332Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2013