Official launch first HydroNET Water Control Room for South African Catchment Management Agency

Inkomati-Usuthu Catchment Management Agency (IUCMA) is the first catchment management agency in South Africa officially using HydroNET for the smart management of their water resources.

Last week IUCMA staff were trained by HydroNET experts on how to operate the decision support system and how to set up personalised dashboards to optimally benefit from their HydroNET water control room.

Because every raindrop counts

Drought-prone South Africa is suffering one of the strongest El Niño weather events in more than half a century,causing extreme drought in South Africa and the Incomati Catchment. In situations where every raindrop counts making optimal use of the available water resources is essential. HydroNET provides easy access to the best available weather information from the South African Weather service. This information helps the water managers of the IUCMA to make the right decisions at the right time.Kingfisher project

It all started in 2012 with the Kingfisher project in which the Dutch Water Authorities cooperate with nine future Catchment Management Agencies in South Africa. Goal of the project is to improve the CMA’s governance in the field of integrated water management and to share knowledge about the use of smart water management tools. Thanks to funding from the Partners for Water programme and support from Waterschap Groot Salland and the IUCMA, the benefits of HydroNET could be successfully demonstrated for the South African situation.

IUCMA’s Water Control Room

The HydroNET IUCMA water control room shows the current status of the weather, water quality, dam levels, water used for irritation and water quantity within the Incomati Catchment. Data from the South African Weather Service and the DHI database of IUCMA are connected to HydroNET. Smart web applications translate the data into easily understood traffic light coloured maps to support decisions. The information from HydroNET can also be easily shared with stakeholders.

The use of HydroNET has fully equiped IUCMA to make well-informed decisions in situations where every raindrop counts.