A System Dynamics Model For Deepening The Understanding Of Greater Kirkwood’s Water Supply System, South Africa

Abstract

The provision of water and sanitation services to citizens living within the municipal boundaries is a struggle for the Sundays River Valley Municipality (SRVM), South Africa. In this municipality, the interrupted operation of the water distribution system has led to perceptions of systemic social injustice that are rooted in the apartheid on the part of citizens. Overall, misconceptions and stakeholder's lack of a common understanding of the system complexity limit the cooperation between the stakeholders. In this project a system dynamics model is developed to serve as a tool to support strategic conversations concerning water supply between stakeholders in this part of rural South Africa. As such, the modeling objective of this project is defined as: "To deepen the understanding of the performance of Greater Kirkwood’s water supply system". During the model construction process and as these questions were answered, three key dilemma’s in management and operation of the water distribution in this part of rural South Africa have surfaced: technical system aspects versus perceived social systemic injustice; short-term supply disruptions versus long-term supply disruptions; adding pipeline infrastructure versus overall system capacity. These identified key dilemma’s should be used as input for strategic stakeholder conversations in order to open the ongoing discussions on responsibilities and water management in Sunday’s River Valley Municipality.