y2018m05b02N
20180528094700
assa
nadine@assaf.org.za
assa
South African Journal of Science
S. Afr. J. Sci
1996-7489
05302018
114
5/6
The Grootfontein aquifer: Governance of a hydro social system at Nash equilibrium
Jude E.
Cobbing
AEON/ESSRI, Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
Maarten
de Wit
AEON/ESSRI, Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
The Grootfontein groundwater aquifer is important to the water supply of the town Mahikeng in the North West Province of South Africa and to commercial agriculture in the Province, but the water table has fallen by up to 28 m as a consequence of over-abstraction since the 1980s. Institutional and hydrogeological issues impact the aquifer in complex ways, described here as a hydro-social system. Whilst the hydrogeology is well understood and South African laws provide for sustainable groundwater governance, poor stakeholder collaboration and other institutional problems mean that the overabstraction is likely to persist – an example of an undesirable Nash equilibrium. The Grootfontein aquifer case shows that groundwater underpins wider social-ecological-economic systems, and that more holistic management – taking the institutional context into account – is needed to underpin economic growth, employment and other public outcomes.
05302018
1
10.17159/sajs.2016/crossmark
sajs.co.za
false
2017-07-05
2018-01-04
2018-05-30
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
10.17159/sajs.2018/20170230
20180528094700
https://www.sajs.co.za/article/view/5170
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https://www.sajs.co.za/article/view/5170/6679
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https://www.sajs.co.za/article/view/5170/6679
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https://www.sajs.co.za/article/view/5170/6679
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https://www.sajs.co.za/article/view/5170/6679
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https://www.sajs.co.za/article/view/5170/6679
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https://www.sajs.co.za/article/view/5170/6679
-
https://www.sajs.co.za/article/view/5170/6679