Adaptive Capacity for Institutional Water Supply and Sanitation Service Delivery under Climate Change in Chingola, Zambia

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

DEDICATION

ABSTRACT

LIST OF FIGURES

ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
1.2 Statement of the Research Problem
1.3 The Aim of the Study
1.4 The Objectives of the Study
1.5 The Research Questions
1.6 The Significance of the Study
1.7 Theoretical Framework
1.8 Conceptual Framework

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Defining the Concept of Climate Change
2.3 The Impacts of Climate Change
2.4 Climate Change and Water Supply and Sanitation Systems
2.5 Climate Related Impacts on Water Supply and Sanitation Systems
2.6 Preparing for Climate Variability and Change in Water Supply and Sanitation
2.7 Managing Climate Change in Water Supply and Sanitation Systems
2.8 Experiences on Preparing for Climate Variability and Change in the Water Supply Systems
2.8.1 Integrating Climate Change in Investment Projects in Bangladesh
2.8.2 Climate Change Adaptation Strategies Guide in the USA
2.8.3 Climate Change integration in Water Supply and Sanitation systems in South Africa
2.8.4 Integrating Climate Change in Water Resources Monitoring in Zambia
2.9 Critique of reviewed literature and gap identification

CHAPTER THREE: MATERIAL AND METHODS
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Location of the Study
3.3 Description of the Study Area
3.4 Research Design
3.5 Mulonga Water Supply and Sanitation Company Limited – Institutional Arrangement
3.6 Research Sampling Population
3.7 Data Collection Method and Tools
3.8 Ethical Consideration
3.9 Limitations of the Study

CHAPTER FOUR: PRESENTATION OF FINDINGS
4.1 Introduction
4.2 To determine the extent of vulnerability to climate change of the institutional water supply and sanitation service delivery in Chingola, Zambia
4.3 To evaluate the institutional preparedness for climate change effects on water supply and sanitation in Chingola, Zambia
4.3.1 Awareness of climate change impacts on water supply and sanitation operations
4.3.2 Impacts of weather related events experienced at the company over last 10 years
4.3.3 Employees in my organization have received training in climate change
4.3.4 The Institution collaborates with climate change experts from Universities/consulting firms
4.4 To identify the climate change adaptation options for institutional water supply and sanitation service delivery in Chingola, Zambia
4.4.1 Employees Understanding of measures to address Climate Change
4.4.2 Organization has set aside financial resources to address climate change
4.4.3. Climate Change concerns informs planning
4.3.4 Options to address climate change impacts on WSS systems

CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
5.1 Introduction
5.2 To determine the extent of vulnerability to climate change of the institutional water supply and sanitation service delivery in Chingola, Zambia
5.3 To evaluate the institutional preparedness for climate change effects on water supply and sanitation in Chingola, Zambia
5.3.1 Employees awareness of climate change
5.3.2 Training in climate change
5.3.3 Collaboration with climate change experts
5.3.4 Weather related events affecting the water utility
5.4 To identify the climate change adaptation options for institutional water supply and sanitation service delivery in Chingola, Zambia.
5.4.1 Understanding of measures to addressing climate change
5.4.2 Financing climate change
5.4.3 Climate Change concerns informs planning

CHAPTER SIX: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
6.1. Conclusions
6.2 Recommendations

REFERENCES

APPENDIX A

APPENDIX B

APPENDIX C

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

During the course of this study, the following people are acknowledged: Mr. Joseph T. Mwale, the supervisor, for guiding and helping me with this research project, the Research and Postgraduate Director, Dr. Adrian Phiri, and the Course Coordinator, Dr. Chansa Chomba, for the guidance and assistance rendered during the period of the research. I also wish to thank the staff at Mulonga Water Supply and Sanitation Company Limited for the cooperation and help rendered during data collection. Additionally, I thank my fellow course mates in the Master of Climate Change and Sustainable Development, you all have been so wonderful, providing encouragements and assistance in various ways. Lastly, but not the least, I thank my dear wife Lisa and children, Chibuye and Lubona; your love and patience throughout the period of this study, when I was absent from many family times, was noteworthy.

DEDICATION

To my Uncle Mr. Henry Chibuye Kunda, you set the ground work for this journey.

ABSTRACT

To sustainably provide institutional water supply and sanitation services under climate change, there is need to develop adaptive capacity for the effects that climate change will have on the systems. This study assessed the adaptive capacity for institutional water supply and sanitation service delivery under climate change in Chingola, Zambia. The study had three objectives; 1) to determine the extent of vulnerability to climate change of the institutional water supply and sanitation service delivery in Chingola, Zambia 2) to evaluate the institutional preparedness for climate change effects on water supply and sanitation in Chingola, Zambia and 3) to identify the climate change adaptation options for institutional water supply and sanitation service delivery in Chingola, Zambia. A structured questionnaire and a vulnerability scoring matrix were used to address the objectives. Forty (40) representatives from the institution providing the services were purposively sampled to respond to the questionnaire and the vulnerability scoring matrix. 28 legitimate responses were gotten, a response rate of 70%. This study revealed that the institutional vulnerability to climate change at present in Chingola is low. It is adaptable. While all the 28 respondents (100%) acknowledged that the water supply and sanitation sector is experiencing climate change and 57.14% stated that it will have serious consequences, 50% indicated that employees in the institution do not have good understanding of climate change and its impacts on WSS and have had no training on climate change respectively. The study recommends that institutions make concerted efforts in developing capacity in their staff to handle climate change issues. Collaboration with institutions of higher learning and other bodies with climate change expertise will help institutions providing water supply and sanitation services to build capacity in climate change and, therefore, ensure provision of climate resilient water supply and sanitation service delivery.

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1 Kakoso Sewage Ponds embankment washed away, discharging raw sewage into the natural environment- Kasoso Stream

Figure 2 Chililabombwe Kafue WTP intake flooded due to intense rainfall

Figure 3 Conceptual framework

Figure 4 Map showing location of the study.

Figure 5 Vulnerability Score

Figure 6 Employees’ Awareness of Climate Change

Figure 7 Weather related impacts affecting WSS system

Figure 8 Employees have training on climate Change

Figure 9 Organisation collaborates with climate experts

Figure 10 Employees’ understand measures to address climate change

Figure 11 Organisation finance climate change

Figure 12 climate change concerns inform planning

Figure 13 Options to address climate change

ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS

ADB Asian Development Bank

AfDB African Development Bank

AR5 Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

AWWARF American Water Works Resource Foundation

EMASESA Empresa Metropolitana de Abastecimiento y Saneamiento de Aguas de Sevilla (Public Water Supply and Sanitation Company in Seville, Spain)

FCU Fort Collins Utilities

IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

MWSC Mulonga Water Supply and Sanitation Company

NAPA National Adaptation Programme of Action

NCCRS National Climate Change Response Strategy

NPCC National Policy on Climate Change

NWASCO National Water Supply and Sanitation Council

NWSC Nkana Water Supply and Sanitation Company

SEDAPAL Servicio de Agua Potable y Alcantarillado de Lima (Water Utility Company in Lima, Chile)

SPSS Statistical Package for Social Scientists

UCAR University Corporation for Atmospheric Research

UN The United Nations Organisation

UNFCCC United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

US EPA United States Environmental Protection Agency

USA United States of America

WHO World Health Organisation

WSS Water Supply and Sanitation

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

Climate variability and change is now understood and accepted as one of the most prominent environmental challenges the world is facing today (Howard et al., 2016). In most parts of the world, the effects of climate variability and change are manifesting and are impacting on many sectors of national economies. The IPCC (2014) indicated that scientific evidence shows that even if greenhouse gas emissions were controlled now to mitigate climate change, the current trends in climatic conditions will continue for decades, if not centuries, due to past emissions.

The water supply and sanitation sector is among the sectors that will be impacted by the effects of climate variability and change (Muller, 2011). Lopez et al., (2011) stated that many specialists have established that the quantity and quality of water will be the main burden on, and problems for, societies and the environments in the face of climate change. Operations of water supply and sanitation systems will become increasingly more prone to the expected effects of climate variability and change. The World Health Organization technical report, WHO(2009) indicated that floods and droughts will affect the water supply and sanitation sector more than any other effect of climate change. It indicated that flooding of river basins will affect intakes of water supply facilities that can take several days and even years to repair. For sanitation facilities, the report indicated that flooding will cause a breakdown in services, which will pose as a source of diseases that are transmitted by contaminated water through the spread of human excrements in the surrounding environment.

Degradation of surface water quality from increased flooding condition or run off will result in the need for a change in the treatment process to meet portable water standards, which may not be manageable in terms of equipment, expertise and finances for developing countries (Shrestha et al., 2014). For regions that depend on ground water, increasing drought conditions will lead to drying up of the wells, and this will result in greater distances to travel to access drinking water.

The United Nations World Water Development Report (2020) indicated that climate change, along with the ensuing increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme events such as storms, floods and droughts will make accessing water difficult in countries that are already experiencing water stress and those that are not yet affected. This will slow down the efforts that have been made to make water supply and sanitation services accessible, and attainment of sustainable development goal number 6, that of ensuring access to water and sanitation for all.

Given that water is a basic human need, and climate change is likely to threaten the enjoyment of the basic human rights to water and sanitation (The UN, 2020; Sarker and Ahmed, 2015), the urgency for institutions delivering water and sanitation services to build adaptive capacity to the imminent effects of climate variability and change on water supply and sanitation systems is eminent. Institutions providing water supply and sanitation services need to start to assess what impacts climate change and variability will have on their systems and what the technical, operational and financial implications will be on service delivery (Danilenko et al., 2010).

In climate change discussions, adaptive capacity is defined as the capacity of systems, institutions, people, and different living things to acclimatize to possible harm, to make the most of opportunities, or to react to results of climate change (IPPC, 2014). With regards to an institutional water supply and sanitation services provision system, it might be understood as the capacity of the institutional system to keep up or improve levels of service delivery notwithstanding climate and social-economic change. Adaptive capacity is, consequently, to a great extent molded by the ability of managers inside the institution to handle the likely challenges and recognize the seriousness of the dangers, plan reasonable strategies and execute those (Azhoni et al., 2018). By building adaptive capacity to climate change, institutional water supply and sanitation services provision will become resilient even with climate change, and eventually have the option to utilize the opportunity that climate change will present.

1.2 Statement of the Research Problem

Zambia, like the rest of the world, is already experiencing the effects of climate variability and change (Mweemba, 2014; Sonderegger, 2017; Pardoe et al., 2018). The Institutional water supply and sanitation sector in Zambia is seen as among the areas that are, and will be, affected by the effects of climate variability and change. The National Adaptation Program of Action (NAPA, 2007), the National Climate Change Response Strategy (NCCRS, 2010) and the National Policy on Climate Change (NPCC, 2016), all list the water sector as among the areas that are climate sensitive in Zambia.

Thus, institutional water supply and sanitation service delivery in Zambia is bound to face the effects that climate change and variability is expected to bring about on water supply and sanitation systems. These institutions managing water and sanitation service delivery need to build adaptive capacity for climate variability and change effects while grappling with other pressing issues like combating high non-revenue water arising from dilapidated infrastructure, the need to increase service coverage brought about by the increase in population and rapid urbanization.

Mulonga Water Supply and Sanitation Company Limited is one of the eleven institutions delivering water supply and sanitation services in Zambia. It has headquarters in Chingola district on the Copperbelt Province and operates in three Copperbelt districts of Chililabombwe, Chingola and Mufulira. The company delivers water and sanitation services in the above mentioned towns. The company has of late experienced several extreme weather-related incidents. Incidences of flooding of water supply intake infrastructure, as shown in figure 2 below have been experienced as recent as the 2020-2021 rainy season. This rainy season also saw the flooding and washing away of sewage pond embankments at Kakoso sewage ponds as depicted by figure 1 below. Further starting from the rainy season of 2018-2019, the Kafue Water Treatment Plant in Chingola has been experiencing degradation of raw water quality due to increased precipitation, a situation that leave the plant to stop water treatment operations for several hours or days. Such incidences affect water supply reliability, cause disruption to sanitation service provision and results in discharging untreated sewage into water bodies without meeting the required treatment standards. In the event of heavy rains, sewer network become clogged due to increase in the load and sewage comes into the streets that are waterlogged. This poses health risks to the communities, exposing them to the risks of contracting waterborne diseases. With the effects of climate change likely to increase in regularity and intensity, the rate of occurrence of such incidences is expected to increase, with severe consequences on utility operations.

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Figure 1: Kakoso Sewage Ponds embankment washed away following intense rainfall, discharging raw sewage into the natural environment- Kasoso Stream

Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten

Figure 2: Chililabombwe Kafue WTP intake flooded due to intense rainfall

With the aforementioned, there remain information gap on the adaptive capacity of institutions delivering water supply and sanitation services to manage these services in the face of varying and changing climatic conditions. Their having knowledge of climate change and variability will ensure that they build adaptive capacity to manage the impacts that climate variability and change will have on the services they provide, and ultimately ensure climate resilient and sustained water supply and sanitation operations.

1.3 The Aim of the Study

The study aims to assess the adaptive capacity for institutional water supply and sanitation service delivery under climate change in Chingola, Zambia in order to contribute knowledge and insight for the development and management of climate resilient water supply and sanitation services.

1.4 The Objectives of the Study

The objectives of the research are:

1) To determine the extent of vulnerability to climate change of the institutional water supply and sanitation service delivery in Chingola, Zambia.
2) To evaluate the institutional preparedness for climate change effects on water supply and sanitation in Chingola, Zambia.
3) To identify the climate change adaptation options for institutional water supply and sanitation service delivery in Chingola, Zambia.

1.5 The Research Questions

The study will answer the following questions:

1) What is the extent of vulnerability to climate change of the institutional water supply and sanitation service delivery in Chingola, Zambia?
2) How prepared is the institutional service delivery for climate change effects on water supply and sanitation in Chingola, Zambia?
3) What are the climate change adaptation options for institutional water supply and sanitation service delivery in Chingola, Zambia?

1.6 The Significance of the Study

The study will help identify the challenges that will be faced; and the needs and future actions that can be undertaken to build adaptive capacity for institutional water supply and sanitation service delivery under climate change. Specifically, it will serve as a baseline for the vulnerability assessment of the institutional water supply and sanitation to climate variability and change in Chingola, and highlight how prepared the institutional service delivery for climate change effects on water supply and sanitation in Chingola, Zambia is. Further, it will serve to show what adaptation options to climate change the institutional water supply and sanitation service delivery can take with the goal that the water supply and sanitation service provision remain uninterrupted despite climate change. This baseline can be utilized as a guide for additional help and support that can be given to institutional water supply and sanitation utilities/managers to improve their understanding of climate change and variability, what it can mean for their operations and what they need to do to plan for the impacts of climate change. With heightened understanding of climate variability and change and its likely threats to their operations, utility managers will be better prepared to manage these operations in a climate resilient manner, going forward (Ekstrom et al., 2016). Additionally, the study will help encourage the need to move climate impact considerations from global or national level to local/organizational level, as climate change issues are perceived to be global (Jorgelina et al., 2014; Ludwig et al., 2012), but the impacts are felt on the regional/local level. This is important because organisations are central players in deciding on and actioning societal solutions to climate variability and change (Berkhout, 2011). The findings will also be useful in directing policy development in enhancing adaptive capacity and ensure resilience and reliability of water supply and sanitation systems under varying and changing climate.

1.7 Theoretical Framework

The study is premised on two theories: the institutional theory by W. Richard Scott and water supply reliability theory by Shamir and Howard. Scott (2004) in explaining the institutional theory posits that institutions and processes are formed by society to respond to societal needs and that “institutions are comprised of specific elements: regulations - the rules, laws and social expectations, normative as being the expected proper way to behave and perform, and cognitive – the way things get done”. He states that institutions create social structure in which schemas, rules, norms, and routines for acceptable behavior are followed. Stressing the institutional element of regulation, Berkhout (2011) stated that regional or national regulatory agencies play an essential part in outlining and administering the rules by which organisations should function.

Li and Ding (2013) stated that the fundamental line of reasoning of the institutional theory is that an organization embraces activities that are considered good and fitting within a particular environment or organization’s area of activity, which as a rule changes towards normal game plans and practices because of coercive, imitative and regulating pressures. Advancing the theory, they called this institutional isomorphism, where firms operating in the same institutional environment take after and align themselves with other organisations in the same institutional context to gain legitimacy from external environment. This results in the local organization gaining social acceptance and resources to sustain its operations.

Shamir and Howard (1981), defined water supply reliability in terms of the shortage that can result from failure of a system’s physical component. With the impacts of climate change and variability anticipated to affect water supply systems with operation disruptions, such system failures are expected to become frequent unless measures are taken to address expected impacts of climate change on water supply operations and ultimately improve water supply reliability. Howe et al. (1990), characterized reliability as the opposite of system failure, which means the water supply and sanitation system fails to deliver accepted quality and standard of water and sanitation services. These failures can occur as a result of several reasons, such as shortages of raw water or problems caused by treatment or delivery system component

In this study, the institution being considered is Mulonga Water Supply and Sanitation Company which needs to plan for the effects climate change will bring on the arrangement of water supply and sanitation service provision, a societal need. It is expected to adopt the tenets of the institutional theory in order to sustain its operations despite climate variability and change, and therefore, remain acceptable in the society. Additionally, the water supply reliability theory will apply to ensure that the organization can prevent the likely disruptions that the effects of climate variability and change will impose on its operations.

1.8 Conceptual Framework

The conceptual framework used in this study is as shown in figure 3 below. The framework is premised on the fact that climate change effects, which are already affecting many parts of the world, are impacting on institutional water supply and sanitation operations. The climate change effects, such as, heavy precipitation, temperature rise, frequent and prolonged dry spells and shifting rainfall patterns (Shrestha et al., 2014), among others, are taken as independent variables of in this study. The effects of climate change are impacting on the institutional water supply and sanitation operations by reducing the raw water quantity, degrading the water quality, damaging infrastructure due to flooding, drying up of ground water sources and flooding sewers (IPCC, 2014). These impacts are taken as dependent variables caused by the independent variables discussed previously. To address the problems brought about by climate change effects, interventions are taken in the form of adaptation options, which are the intervening variables of the study. These actions are taken to enhance the adaptive capacity of the institutional water supply and sanitation operations to ensure resilient and sustained service provision in the face of climate change.

Figure 3: Conceptual Framework

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CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Introduction

This chapter reviews works on climate change and water utilities operations in line with the objectives of the study. The chapter also looks at comparative case studies on climate adaptation and variability from international, regional and national perspective. The chapter further critiques the reviewed literature and identifies gaps to be filled from the reviewed literature

2.2 Defining the Concept of Climate Change

Climate change, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2013, 2014), is defined as any adjustment of climate over the long period, regardless of whether because of regular fluctuation or because of human activities. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UN, 1992) defines climate change as a difference in climate that is ascribed forthrightly or in an indirect way to human action that modifies the composition of the atmosphere and that is notwithstanding regular climate variability observed throughout similar time-frames. It is a change in the average climate or climate variability that persist over an extended period, usually 30 years or more (Riedy, 2016).

2.3 The Impacts of Climate Change

Climate change has affected various characteristics of the planet Earth. Climate change effects have become evident in different places in the world and are projected to become more frequent and intense. Consensus findings on the most important influences of climate change include melting of glaciers, rising sea level, rising temperatures leading to global warming, intense heat waves, droughts, wind storms and storm surges, changing precipitation and shifting rain seasons, among others (Hunt and Watkiss, 2011; IPCC, 2014; Bertule et al., 2018). These effects of climate change will adversely impact many sectors of national economies such as agriculture (IPCC, 2014; Lal, 2013; Altieri et al., 2015), health, tourism, water (WHO, 2009), energy, and ecosystems (Beyi, 2019).

2.4 Climate Change and Water Supply and Sanitation Systems

Around 25% (200 million) individuals of Africa currently face water shortage, and more nations are probably going to confront the deficiencies in future. Moreover, even without climate change, it has been projected that, several nations, for the most part in northern Africa, would reach the threshold level of their economically usable land-based water resources before 2025 (Glantz, 2011). Climate variability and change is likely to inflict further pressures on water availability, accessibility, supply and demand in Africa. Climate change will affect water supply and sanitation systems, and the approaches for water utility management being used at present will most likely be unable to deal with the subsequent effects. Many water utilities in developing countries are not in a position to plan adaptation programs for climate change and variability, but only attend to short term concerns as they happen. Many specialists argue that it is not yet possible for water managers in low- and middle income countries to take climate change into account because they are struggling to cope with day-to-day management. Nevertheless, adjusting to present-day climate variability and change should already be considered an important part of water utility management-whether the adaptation is effective and successful relies on the utilities' governance and longer-term adaptation can expand on this. (Heath et al., 2012)

For the waters sector, the discoveries of the Fifth Assessment Report, AR5, of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change affirm that climate change will fundamentally affect the worldwide water supplies and may bring about water shortage (IPCC 2013; 2014; Filho, 2012). Water scarcity is a problem that most parts of the world are experiencing even under the current conditions, but with climate change, the situation will get worse. Areas receiving rainfall will receive even more, while those receiving less rainfall will receive even less. The frequency and severity of climate change effects such as floods, droughts, storm surges, sea level rise and temperature extremes will increase (IPCC, 2014; Bertule, et al., 2018; AWWARF and UCAR, 2006). To summarize the effects of climate change on water supply activities, the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2014: 14) remarked that:

“Climate change is projected to reduce raw water quality and pose risks to drinking water quality even with conventional treatment, due to interacting factors: increased temperature; increased sediment, nutrient, and pollutant loadings from heavy rainfall; increased concentration of pollutants during droughts; and disruption of treatment facilities during floods”

The climate variability and change effects stated above will affect water supply and sanitation operations. The WHO (2009) and Shrestha et al. (2014) have advised that of all the different climate change effects, floods and droughts will affect the water supply and sanitation sector the most. They stated that floods will affect water supply intake infrastructure that can take years to repair and cause service disruptions of sanitation facilities which can cause water borne and water related diseases. Droughts can lead to drying up of water sources causing people to cover longer distances to access drinking water (Shrestha et al., 2014), water service disruptions and water rationing. Rainstorms and higher temperatures will likewise influence the nature of the raw water, requiring difficult and costly treatment processes to make the water safe for drinking and other domestic uses. Increased temperatures will boost the demand for water while adding to water loss due to evaporation (Ziervogel, 2018). Wastewater treatment requires that effluent discharged into water body is diluted by the receiving water, but if stream flow is reduced due to climate change and variability, it will require that treatment process is intensified to maintain the environment standards (Muller, 2011), which will be difficult to attain in most developing countries.

Katrina et al. (2009) reported that changes in rainfall and their consequences will affect water supply and sanitation facilities the most. The report stated that changes in rainfall will affect hydroelectric power production either by damaging infrastructure by extreme events, or by shortage of water for energy production, which will in turn, affect water treatment, distribution and sewage pumping and treatment facilities.

According to Miller and Yates (2005), climate changes in the future could impact municipal and industrial water demands. Climate conditions affect water usage in urban areas, especially for gardens, lawns and entertaining field watering, yet rates of utilization are exceptionally subject to utility guidelines. The use of water in industries for processing, on the other hand, does not depend on the climate but it is determined by the production outputs to be met for a particular industrial process.

2.5 Climate Related Impacts on Water Supply and Sanitation Systems

Water supply and sanitation systems in both the developed and developing world have faced climate-related operational disturbances. Luby et al. (2008) reported of flooding in Bangladeshi in 2006 in which a large number of water supply and sanitation systems ceased operations for several weeks. This resulted in contamination of water sources by fecal matter. Howard et al. (2010) reported the flooding of the pumping station at Mythe, Gloucester in 2007. The pump station stopped operations for several days due to the floods, leaving 350,000 people without access to piped water supply. The World Bank (2018) reported that in March 2017, Lima in Peru experienced extremely intense rainfall as never experienced before. This resulted in severe storm run-off that packed the watercourse with sludge. The city’s water processing facility failed to purify the resulting raw water quality, forcing the Water Supply and Sanitation provider for the city - Servicio de Agua Potable y Alcantarillado de Lima (SEDAPAL) to shut down operations for four consecutive days for the raw water turbidity to clear to treatable levels.

Scott et al. (2018) reported on the 2015 to 2017 drought in Namibia that resulted in the shortage of water for Windhoek city. The drought and the resulting water challenges was attributed to climate change and highlighted Namibia’s susceptibility to the impact of climate change. The city’s water supply provider, NamWater put up a number of crisis management procedures to prevent acute water scarcities and the shortage of drinkable water in the city. The water utility in the city of Seville in Spain (EMASESA), faced the climate threat of decreased surface water quantity and quality due to drought in the mid-1990s (Danilenko et al., 2010). The utility applied several measures to address the water supply shortage including cloud seeding to produce rain, importing water by boat, importing an iceberg and promotion of responsible use of water. Ziervogel (2018) reported of the Cape Town water crisis in which the city encountered the threat of not having water in early 2018. In 2017, for the third year running, the city of Cape Town received below normal rainfall. This left the dams providing the city with water supply at the lowest levels. A critical water shortage disaster risk plan was introduced and implemented. Phase one of the plan, which was implemented, involved reducing water pressure in the system and imposing restrictions that limited individuals to using only 50 liters of water per day. Phase three required completely shutting down the water supply for the city- in what was called “Day Zero” and only drinking water would be provided at secured distribution point. Ziervogel noted that although the drought in Cape Town may not be fully ascribed to climate change, such outrageous occasions will probably happen later on when the impacts of climate change become continuous.

2.6 Preparing for Climate Variability and Change in Water Supply and Sanitation

The overall awareness of climate change in most African countries qualitatively reviewed show that local institutions, water utilities and communities are mostly unaware of climate change and have few plans to adapt. In government, there is generally some awareness at the policy level but little impact on the ground. However, even in developed countries, awareness of climate change can be lacking at local levels. In the UK, climate change adaptation had been dominated by national government initiatives and little had trickled down to local government level. (Heath et al., 2012)

Very little information exists regarding the cost of impacts and adaptation to climate change for water resources in Africa. However, an initial assessment in South Africa of adaptation costs in the Berg River Basin shows that the costs of not adapting to climate change can be much greater than those that may arise if flexible and efficient approaches are included in management options (Stern, 2007)

Climate change adaptation is the process of preparing for actual, or projected, changes in climate averages and extremes. It is building adaptive capacity of the individual, groups or organization by increasing their ability to adapt to changes and transforming this capacity into actions by implementing adaptation decisions (Huntjens et al., 2011). Bednar et al. (2018) pointed out that the process involves five stages of identifying climate change impacts, assessing risks and exposure, deliberating adaptation options, implementing adaptation options and monitoring the adaptation options.

However, there are a number of barriers that hamper effective adaptation to variations in climate conditions including: spatial and temporal uncertainties associated with forecasts of regional climate; the low level of awareness among decision makers of the local and regional impacts of climate change; limited national capacities in climate monitoring and forecasting; and lack of co-ordination in the formulation of responses (Glantz, 2011).

Adaptation is not barrier free and there could be many barriers at different stages such as understanding the problems and its impacts, identifying and developing options, implementing the option or assessing the effectiveness of options (Moser and Ekstrom, 2010). Among the barriers, critical one is an absence of information about magnitude and timing of future climate variability and its damage potential that will hamper in developing clear process for identifying and introducing robust adaptation measures. In addition to that structural measures require relatively higher upfront investments that are costly to reverse back once construction has started. Another barrier is the time because design and construction could consume longer time. Similarly, gestation period and operation life of water infrastructure could last for years and decades so that its threshold capacity (Graaf, 2008) could become obsolete at any point of time in future when climate impacts are likely to intensify. Meanwhile, it could take even more time for up scaling and diffusion because any adopted measures may need testing, re-testing, and often involves continuous learning process, before its maturity could be verified.

2.7 Managing Climate Change in Water Supply and Sanitation Systems

Because of the evidence of the impacts of climate change on the water supply and sanitation operations and the fact that climatic conditions will keep changing due to historical emissions (IPCC, 2014), preparing institutional water supply and sanitation operations for climate change is urgently needed (Azhoni et al., 2018). There has been an increase, of late, in the uptake of climate change adaptation in water supply and sanitation operations. For water supply and sanitation organizations, this means including climate variability and change in decision making and operations to ensure continued service delivery, taking measures to address the likely impacts of climate change and building capacity of organization in understanding and dealing with climate change issues.

Strategies to enhance understanding and to assess the nature of climate change and its impacts on the water cycle and water resources include establishing collaborative relationships with the climate research community and strengthening peer-to-peer learning networks between utilities (Mukheibir and Ziervogel, 2007). Building relationships with the climate research community is one useful way to gain access to the best available science regarding how climate change may play out in the geographic area where a utility operates, without needing to employ a whole team of climate modelers. These relationships can and should allow for two-way conversations, serving as a means for researchers to disseminate relevant research and reports to utility managers but also allowing a reality check on that information as utility managers provide feedback on the topics and the usefulness of the outcomes. Funding university researchers to conduct original research to address specific information needs identified by the utility manager is one way to build these relationships. Investments in working with local research universities can reap greater rewards if the relationship between the utility and the researcher is maintained over time, enhancing both trust in the results and the ability to do longitudinal studies. (Jacobs and Flamings, 2018)

Water and sanitation sectors calls for integrated adaptation strategies that increase the water availability (supply management) and approaches that efficiently use the limited available water resources (demand management) while minimizing adverse impacts and meeting the sanitation objectives where and when necessary. Overarching efficiency measures on both ends should contribute to both greening the sector and increasing the resilience of livelihoods. Integrated river basin development approaches provide an easy entry point for such approaches among many others. The concept of green growth has gained popularity during recent years as a holistic approach to development that values human, social and natural capital, efficiently and sustainably using the ecosystem services and building resilience in an increasingly changing world (AfDB, 2013).

These measures are taken in order to ensure resilience of the institutional water supply and sanitation services provision under changing climate. Resilience is defined as the capacity of an ecosystem to absorb disturbance without shifting to an alternative state and losing function and services (Côté and Darling, 2010). The issue of resilience of water and sanitation technologies has been discussed in the WHO report (WHO, 2010). The WHO have categorized the resilience based on evidence of resilience and vulnerability to current climate variability and ability to withstand forecast future changes (Howard et al., 2010). One of the overarching vulnerabilities identified in the WHO study is that the choices of water supply and sanitation facilities are generally informed by historical records rather than knowledge of future trends. For instance, a sewage treatment plant might be designed based on a one-in twenty year flood level; meaning that the operation is expected to be hampered by floods approximately one every twenty years. However, with the changing climate, the average recurrence interval for that size flood may drop dramatically. Thus, design standards, manuals and codes of practice will need to change to reflect forecast climate, rather than historical climate

2.8 Experiences on Preparing for Climate Variability and Change in the Water Supply Systems

This section gives some selected cases where preparations for climate variability and change in water supply and sanitation operations are being done from around the globe. For water supply and sanitation institutions, this implies including climate variability and change in planning and operations to ensure continued service provision, take measures to address the possible effects of climate change and build capacity in the organization in understanding and dealing with climate change issues.

2.8.1 Integrating Climate Change in Investment Projects in Bangladesh

In planning for climate change in water supply activities in Bangladesh, the Asian Development Bank (2016) reported that a study was conducted to assess the impacts of climate change on the urban water supply system and to identify climate change adaptation options for a proposed water supply investment project in Khulna. The study found that the river earmarked for water abstraction would experience a decrease in river flows in the dry season and an increase in salinity arising from sea level rise. The study proposed two options: shifting the intake point 4 km upstream or increasing the size of the impounding reservoir. A further detailed analysis was conducted to determine the required size of the impounding reservoir. The city has planned to gradually increase the size of the impounding reservoir while continuing the monitoring of the salinity levels in the river

2.8.2 Climate Change Adaptation Strategies Guide in the USA

The United States has recognized the challenges climate change poses to institutional water supply and sanitation operations that include increased frequency and duration of droughts, floods associated with intense precipitation events and coastal storms, degraded water quality, wildfires and coastal erosion, and subsequent changes in demand for services. Based on this understanding, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) has developed the Adaptation Strategies Guide for Climate Ready Water Utilities to provide drinking water and wastewater utilities with a basic understanding of how climate change can impact utility operations and provide examples of adaptation options for utilities to prepare for these impacts (US EPA, 2012). The information on climate change impacts presented in this guide is based on the type of utility or geographical location in which the utility operates from.

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