Hydrogeology of South Africa

Africa Groundwater Atlas >> Hydrogeology by country >> Hydrogeology of South Africa

Authors

Brighid Ó Dochartaigh, Kirsty Upton, British Geological Survey, UK

Geographical Setting

Map of South Africa (For more information on the datasets used in the map see the geography resources section)

General

Estimated Population in 2013*	52,980,000
Rural Population (% of total) (2013)*	36%
Total Surface Area*	1,213,090 sq km
Agricultural Land (% of total area) (2012)*	79%
Capital City	Pretoria (executive); Bloemfontein (judicial); Cape Town (legislative)
Region	Southern Africa
Border Countries	Namibia, Botswana,Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Swaziland, Lesotho.
Annual Freshwater Withdrawal (2013)*	12.500 Million cubic metres
Annual Freshwater Withdrawal for Agriculture (2013)*	63%
Annual Freshwater Withdrawal for Domestic Use (2013)*	31%
Annual Freshwater Withdrawal for Industry (2013)*	6%
Rural Population with Access to Improved Water Source (2012)*	88%
Urban Population with Access to Improved Water Source (2012)*	99%

* Source: World Bank

Climate

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  Koppen Geiger Climate Zones

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  Average Annual Precipitation

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  Average Temperature

Temporal variations in temperature and rainfall. Rainfall time-series and graphs of monthly average rainfall and temperature for each individual climate zone can be found on the South Africa Climate Page.

For further detail on the climate datasets used see the climate resources section.

Surface water

Surface Water Map of South Africa (For more information on the datasets used in the map see the surface water resources section)

Soil

Soil Map of South Africa (For map key and more information on the datasets used in the map see the soil resources section)

Land cover

File:South Africa LandCover.png Land Cover Map of South Africa (For map key and more information on the datasets used in the map see the land cover resources section)

Geology

This section provides a summary of the geology of South Africa. More detail can be found in the references listed at the bottom of this page. Many of these references can be accessed through the Africa Groundwater Literature Archive.

The geology map on this page shows a simplified version of the geology at a national scale (see the Geology resources page for more details). The map is available to download as a shapefile (.shp) for use in GIS packages.

Geological Environments

Key Formations	Period	Lithology	Structure
Geological Environment 1
Name of formation1	Time period	Description	Structure
Geological Environment 2
Geological Environment 3

Hydrogeology

This section provides a summary of the hydrogeology of the main aquifers in South Africa. More information is available in the references listed at the bottom of this page. Many of these references can be accessed through the Africa Groundwater Literature Archive.

The hydrogeology map on this page shows a simplified version of the type and productivity of the main aquifers at a national scale (see the Aquifer properties resource page for more details). The map is available to download as a shapefile (.shp) for use in GIS packages.

Many other hydrogeological and groundwater resource maps are available, including the Hydrogeological Map Series of 21 hydrogeological maps at 1:500,000 scale produced by the Department of Water Affairs, which covers the whole country. These show aquifer type (e.g. intergranular or fractured) and median borehole yield, with geology, rainfall and other information (Cobbing 2011). These are available to purchase as hard copies from the Department of Water Affairs.

Unconsolidated

Named Aquifers	General Description	Water quantity issues	Water quality issues	Recharge

Sedimentary - Intergranular Flow

Named Aquifers	General Description	Water quantity issues	Water quality issues	Recharge

Sedimentary - Intergranular & Fracture Flow

Named Aquifers	General Description	Water quantity issues	Water quality issues	Recharge

Sedimentary - Fracture Flow

Named Aquifers	General Description	Water quantity issues	Water quality issues	Recharge

Basement

Named Aquifers	General Description	Water quantity issues	Water quality issues	Recharge

Groundwater use and management

Groundwater management

The Water Act (Act 36 of 1998) recognised groundwater as a common asset.

The National Environmental Management Act of 1998 and the Minerals and Petroleum Resources Development Act of 2002 make new legal obligations for the mining and other industries in terms of the monitoring and remediation of pollution of water resources, including groundwater (Cobbing 2011).

The South Africa Department of Water Affairs stores groundwater data in a database called the National Groundwater Archive (NGA), which in 2011 contained about 250,000 boreholes records (Cobbing 2011). Another database, the Water Authorisation and Use database, stores information on volumes of groundwater used, based mainly on licensed volumes (Cobbing 2011).

Groundwater monitoring

Transboundary aquifers===

For further information about transboundary aquifers, please see the Transboundary aquifers resources page

References

The following references provide more information on the geology and hydrogeology of South Africa.

These, and others, can be accessed through the Africa Groundwater Literature Archive EDIT THE LINK TO CORRECT COUNTRY!!

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