Atlantis Water Fund Pilot Project

1. General information

Location and description of the intervention

City or FUA

Cape Town

Region

Africa

Native title of the NBS intervention

Atlantis Water Fund Pilot Project

Short description of the intervention

The Nature Conservancy established the Cape Town Water Fund in 2016 using the worldwide applied water fund to enable downstream water users to invest in land conservation and restoration upstream. (4,5) In 2018, the Water Fund started its pilot project on the catchment area of the Atlantis Aquifer, outside of Cape Town's boundaries on state land. The pilot project "seeks to increase water supply to Cape Town by removing invasive plant species in water catchment areas. Invasive species have been found to use significantly more water than indigenous species and uptake millions of litres of water from the catchment area annually that would otherwise be added to the city’s water supply" ( 1 p7). The intervention also supports the empowerment of marginalized communities by providing training and employment for them. As one of the main characteristics of the water fund model, various local stakeholders from all sectors are invited to develop and implement water connected challenges (1).

Address

South Africa

Location

The NBS is a city-wide initiative, the GIS point marks the centre of the city

Type of area before implementation of the NBS

Other

Please specify “other type of area” before implementation of the NBS

Catchment area of the Atlantis Aquifer which is located outside of Cape Town's boundaries on state land.

Timeline of intervention

Start date of the intervention (planning process)

2016

Start date of intervention (implementation process)

2018

End date of the intervention

2018

Present stage of the intervention

Completed

2. Objectives of the intervention

Goals of the intervention

- Conservation of water by the removal of water demanding invasive species (1)
- Provision of the economic, scientific, financial circumstances along with substantial governance model essential to extend the scope of the invasive plant clearing activities as the major water supply strategy (1)
- Establishing the governing model of the Great Cape Town Water Fund including (1)

Quantitative targets

- The replenishment of at least 10 000 000 litres of water to the Atlantis aquifer by the end of 2019 (1)
- Employment and training of 50 women from disadvantaged communities to carry out the invasive species removal and manage self-sufficient small businesses (1)

Monitoring indicators defined

Unkonwn

Sustainability challenge(s) addressed

Climate action for adaptation, resilience and mitigation (SDG 13)

Climate change adaptation

Water management (SDG 6)

Stormwater and rainfall management and storage

Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)

Habitat and biodiversity restoration

Inclusive and effective governance (SDG 16)

Inclusive governance

Effective management

Social justice, cohesion and equity (SDG 10)

Social justice and equity

Environmental education

Economic development and employment (SDG 8)

Employment/job creation

Climate change adaptation: What were the goals of the NBS?

Build resilience

Climate change adaptation: What activities are implemented to realize the conservation goals and targets?

Implement sustainable urban drainage infrastructure (e.g. to make space for water)

Renaturalization of rivers and other water bodies

Increase the use of climate-resilient plant species (resistant to drought, fire, and pests)

Other

What types of restoration goals are / were defined for the NBS intervention?

Species-focused

Ecosystem-focused

What activities are implemented to realize the restoration goals and targets?

Rehabilitate and restore damaged or destroyed ecosystems

Restore species (native, endangered, or unspecified)

Clear and control invasive alien species

Implementation activities

- Removal of invasive plant species in the Atlantis Aquifer catchment area (1)
- Restoration of indigenous ecosystems (1, 5, 6)
- Restoration of recharged ponds as aquifers (1)
- Development of project reports supporting the economic, scientific and legal basis of invasive species clearing beyond the pilot project (1)
- Proof for the viability of the Water Fund model for Cape Town (1,2,5)

Type of NBS project

Management and improved protection of rivers and other blue areas

Ecological restoration of ecosystems

Improved governance of green or blue areas

3. NBS domains, ES and scale

NBS domain and interventions

Ecological domain(s) where the NBS intervention(s) is/are implemented

Green areas for water management

Other

Please specify "other green areas for water management"

Catchment area over an aquifer (1)

Please specify "other Climate change adaptation activity"

Clear water demanding species in the catchment area of the Atlantis Aquifer and rehabilitating the cleared area with native plant species which are more resilient to the climate (1)

What is the level of innovation / development of the NBS related to water management?

Medium / High: sustainable urban drainage systems which include water storage and diverts water flooding

Vegetation Type

Shrubs

Trees

Please specify how many trees were planted

Unknown

Amenities offered by the NBS

Unknown

Please specify "other marginalized group"

Women from disadvantaged communities

Services

Expected ecosystem services delivered

Provisioning services

Water (surface and ground water for drinking and non-drinking purposes)

Scale

Spatial scale

Meso-scale: Regional, metropolitan and urban level

Beneficiaries

Primary Beneficiaries

Local government/Municipality

Public sector institution (e.g. school or hospital)

Non-government organisation/Civil Society

Private sector/Corporate/Company

Citizens or community groups

Marginalized groups

Socio-economically disadvantaged populations (e.g. low-income households, unemployed)

Other

4. Governance and financing

Governance

Governance arrangements

Co-governance with government and non-government actors

Non-government actors

Non-governmental organisation (NGO) / Civil society / Churches

Private sector/Corporate/Business

Researchers, university

Financial institution (e.g. bank, insurer, pension fund)

Coalition with multiple of the above

Please specify the roles of the specific government and non-government actor groups involved in the initiative

The Atlantis Aquifer pilot project was initiated by the Great Cape Town Water Fund which itself was in the design phase between 2016 and 2018. The Nature Conservancy (TNC) who applied the model in many locations tailored to the local settings to invest in nature conservation and restoration of upstream areas played a key role as an intermediary informing of the Great Cape Town Water Fund, a neutral third party body working for increased water supply for Cape Town. TNC brought together governmental bodies, municipality departments, research institutes and private sector actors to cooperate and find sufficient funding opportunities (primarily coming from the private sector) to the long term objectives of the Great Cape Town Water Fund. (1) In 2018, the feasibility of the Water Fund in Cape Town has been successfully proved, and the institutional and financial structure of the Water Fund has been established as an independent legal entity. The Great Cape Town Water fund steering committee includes The Nature Conservancy, National Department of Water and Sanitation, National Department of Environmental Affairs (Environmental Programmes), Provincial Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, City of Cape Town, South African Biodiversity Institute, CapeNature, Coca-Cola Peninsula Beverages, Nedbank, Remgro Ltd, and WWF. (6)

Key actors - initiating organization

Local government/municipality

Non-government organisation/civil society

Land owners

Public space owned by the city

Other

Key actors - Other stakeholders involved (besides initiating actors)

National government

Local government/municipality

Non-government organisation/civil society

Private sector/corporate actor/company

Researchers/university

Land owners

Public space owned by the city

Other

Please specify other land owner

The catchment area of the Atlantis Aquifer is located on state land.

Participatory methods/forms of community involvement used

Consultation (e.g. workshop, surveys, community meetings, town halls)

Co-management/Joint management

Please specify other landowner

The catchment area of the Atlantis Aquifer is located on state land.

Policy drivers

NBS intervention implemented in response to an Regional Directive/Strategy

NBS intervention implemented in response to a national regulations/strategy/plan

Unknown

NBS intervention implemented in response to a local regulation/strategy/plan

Unknown

Mandatory or voluntary intervention

Voluntary (spontaneous)

Enablers

Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS vision/strategy/plan - mentioned in connection to the project

Yes

Please specify

Local Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan
Integrated Environmental Management Plan, Mayors Portfolio of Urban Sustainability
Resilient Cape Town Preliminary Resilience Assessment (1)

Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS section/part in a more general plan - mentioned in connection to the project

Unknown

If there is a relevant strategy or plan, please specify the theme / type of the plan.

Biodiversity strategy or plan

Municipal / city level environmental plan or programme

Presence of city network or regional partnerships focused on NBS - mentioned in connection to the project

Unknown

Presence of GI / NBS research project - mentioned in connection to the project

Yes

Please specify

As part of the pilot project, the Great Cape Town Water Fund Business Case research project was carried out to justify the benefits of nature-based solutions in water management and the thus, the expansion of the pilot project. (1, 6).

Subsidies/investment for GI / NBS in the city - mentioned in connection to the project

Unknown

Co-finance for NBS

Yes

Co-financing governance arrangements

Yes

Co-governance arrangement

A fund / grant

Was this co-governance arrangement already in place, or was it set up specifically for this NBS?

Set up specifically for this NBS

Financing

Total cost

Unknown

What is/was the Cost/Budget (EUR) of the NBS or green infrastructure elements?

Unknown

What are the total amount of expected annual maintenance costs?

Unknown

What is the expected annual maintenance costs of the NBS or GI elements?

Unknown

Please specify cost savings

There is no information regarding cost savings connected directly to the pilot project. However, since the success of the pilot project, the Great Cape Town Water Fund continued with the clearing of invasive plants in the city's water catchment areas which "by 2045, after 30 years of maintenance and preventing new invasive plants from growing could lead to the saving up of 100 billion liters, equivalent to one-third of Cape Town’s current annual supply. Leading grey infrastructure alternatives cost between five and 12 times as much, and none produces as much extra water. (1, 6)

Please specify total cost (EUR)

"130.000€ from The Coca-Cola Foundation,
unknown amount from other private companies" (1 p5)

Source(s) of funding

Corporate investment

Other

Please specify other source of funding

It is assumed that the pilot project and the foundation of the Great Cape Town Water Fund was realised using multiple funds but there is no information of these with the exception of the 130.000 EUR donation from the the Coca Cola Foundation. (1, ed.)

Type of fund(s) used

Direct funding (grants, subsidies, or self-financed projects by private entities)

Unknown

Non-financial contribution

Unknown

Business models

Risk reduction model

Which of the involved actors was motivated by this model?

Public actor (e.g. municipality)

Private non-for-profit actor (e.g. NGO, foundation)

5. Innovation

Type of innovation

Social

Economic innovation

Governance innovation

Novelty level of the innovation

The innovation is copied/derived from previous initiative(s) with substantial adaptation

Please specify novelty level of the innovation

The 'water fund' is a governance model designed by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and it consists of public-private partnerships that connect around a common goal: using nature-based solutions to ensure sustainable watershed management. Downstream users, such as businesses, utilities and local governments, contribute to upstream conservation initiatives aimed at improving water quality and quantity for the region (6). The Great Cape Town Water Fund is the first such initiative in South Africa, although TNC has worked on water funds in seven other Africa (1).

Replicability/Transferability

Ambiguous (e.g. multiple interpretations)

Please specify Replicability/Transferability

The know how and model derives from The Nature Conservancy, therefore, any further application of it is supposed to connect to the TNC. Based on the case of the Great Cape Town Water Fund, there is The 'water fund' is a governance model designed by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and it consists of public-private partnerships that connect around a common goal: using nature-based solutions to ensure sustainable watershed management. Downstream users, such as businesses, utilities and local governments, contribute to upstream conservation initiatives aimed at improving water quality and quantity for the region (6). The Great Cape Town Water Fund is the first such initiative in South Africa, although TNC has worked on water funds in seven other Africa (1).

6. Evaluation and learning

Impacts, benefits

Environmental impacts

Climate change

Strengthened capacity to address climate hazards/natural disasters

Water management and blue areas

Reduced risk of damages by drought

Enhanced protection and restoration of freshwater ecosystems

Green space and habitat

Increased conservation or restoration of ecosystems

Improved prevention or control of invasive alien species

Description of environmental benefits

- The catchment area of the Atlantis Aquifer has been cleared from invasive plant species contributing to the rehabilitation of endangered ecosystems and native fynbos vegetation (1, 2).
- With the removal of water-thirsty invasive species in the Atlantis Aquifer, more water goes back to the catchment area filling up to the reservoirs and increasing Cape Town's overall water supply (1, 6).
- With the increased water supply, the resilience of Cape Town to address future droughts has increased (1,2)
- The replenishment of at least 10 000 000 litres of water to the Atlantis aquifer by the end of 2019 (expected impact).

Economic impacts

Increase of green jobs (e.g. paid employment positions)

Generation of income from NBS

Description of economic benefits

- Within the framework of the private project, 11 women from disadvantaged communities were trained and employed to carry out the invasive species removal work (1).
- The women were employed in the framework of a self-sustaining small business, and some of them also received training on business management to be able to lead the project (1).
- The objective of the pilot project was to employ and train 50 women, however, there is no record of whether this target number has been reached (1, ed.)

Please specify other environmental justice issue

- Employment and training of 50 women from disadvantaged communities to carry out the invasive species removal and manage self-sufficient small businesses (1)

Type of reported impacts

Expected impacts

Achieved impacts

Indicators

Number of jobs created (1)
Number of marginalized women employed (1)
Amount of water replenished by the clearing of the Atlantis Aquifer catchment area (1)

Analysis of specific impact categories

Job creation: The NBS created ...

Paid employment positions

Environmental justice: The implementation of the NBS project resulted in ...

Other

Negative impacts: Did the project cause any problems or concerns?

No information was found regarding negative impacts of the project

COVID-19 pandemic

Unknown

Methods of impact monitoring

Process of recording NBS impacts

No evidence in public records

Methods used to evaluate the impacts of NBS

Unknown

Evidence for use of assessment

Presence of an assessment, evaluation and/or monitoring process

Yes

Presence of indicators used in reporting

No evidence in public records

Presence of monitoring/evaluation reports

Yes

Link to monitoring/evaluation reports

https://www.nature.org/content/dam/tnc/nature/en/documents/GCTWF-Business-Case-…

Availability of a web-based monitoring tool

No evidence in public records

Impact assessment mechanism

Name of any specific impact assessment tools

Unknown

Use of GIS in mapping impacts

No evidence in public records

Citizen involvement

Citizens involvement in assessment/evaluation

Citizens involvement in the analysis of the assessment/evaluation

Follow-up to the evaluation / assessment

7. Sources

References

Web links relevant to the intervention

The Nature Conservancy

The Nature Conservancy.

List of references

1) Tozer, L. (2018). NATURVATION - Case Study Working Paper: Cape Town, South Africa
2) Stafford, L., Shemie, D., Kroeger, T., Baker, T., Apse, C., Turpie, J., and Forsythe, K. (2019). Great Cape Town Water Fund: Summary of Findings. The Nature Conservancy. Accessed on 22nd March, 2021. https://www.nature.org/content/dam/tnc/nature/en/documents/GCTWF-Summary-August-2019.pdf
3) Stafford, L., Shemie, D., Kroeger, T., Baker, T., Apse, C., Turpie, J., and Forsythe, K. (2019). Great Cape Town Water Fund: Assessing the Return on Investment for Ecological Infrastructure Restoration. The Nature Conservancy. Accessed on 22nd March, 2021. https://www.nature.org/content/dam/tnc/nature/en/documents/GCTWF-Business-Case-April-2019.pdf
4) The Nature Conservancy. (n.a.). South Africa. The Nature Conservancy. Accessed on 22nd March 2021. https://www.nature.org/en-us/about-us/where-we-work/africa/south-africa/
5) The Nature Conservancy. (2020). Science Behind the Scenes in Cape Town
A new interactive tool tracks the progress of water-saving activities that can help avoid the next “Day Zero"". The Nature Conservancy. Accessed on 22nd March 2021. https://www.nature.org/en-us/about-us/where-we-work/africa/stories-in-africa/new-tool-validates-cape-town-water-fund/
6) The Nature Conservancy. (2018). Nature-Based Solutions Could Protect Cape Town’s Water Supply. The Nature Conservancy. Accessed on 22nd March, 2021. https://www.nature.org/en-us/about-us/where-we-work/africa/stories-in-africa/nature-based-solutions-could-protect-cape-town-s-water-supply/
7) The Nature Conservancy. (n.a.). Water Funds in Africa. The Nature Conservancy. Accessed on 22nd March 2021. https://www.nature.org/en-us/about-us/where-we-work/africa/stories-in-africa/water-funds-in-africa/

Comments and notes

Public Images

Source: https://blog.nature.org/science/2020/06/17/save-cape-town-water-photo-essay-fynbos/