The cost-effectiveness of water augmentation and management : assessing the unit reference value

Abstract

As societies develop, the problem of securing and mobilising adequate water resources to support and sustain economic and social activities increases in complexity. As a costeffectiveness measure the use of the Unit Reference Value (URV) has become standard practice in South African water resource management and development. It is informative and easy to understand. These two attributes inspire confidence and an ever-greater uptake of its use in evaluating suggested courses of action to be taken by society in ensuring their future. Deviations in how an URV is calculated emerge due to both the diversification of its user base and the dynamic nature of the contexts in which it is applied. Such developments add to the pluralistic framings within which research and decision-makers operate. We provide three sub-types of URV application, and caution against comparing URVs across categories. To mitigate possible confusion, we propose the development of standards/rules for the interpretation of URVs.