Public knowledge and stormwater quality in Cape Town, South Africa: a case study of the Liesbeek River

Includes bibliographical references.It is widely recognized that stormwater is one of the main contributing factors to the deterioration of water quality in urban rivers. The problem is partly caused by the design of conventional stormwater infrastructure, which is intended to remove runoff as quickly and efficiently as possible. In many developing countries urban rivers are already highly degraded and efforts to safeguard these waterways from further deterioration are often a low-level priority for local authorities that are already struggling with basic service delivery challenges. However the condition of an urban waterway cannot be understood simply as a cause and effect relationship, but rather as the result of dynamic interactions between people, drainage infrastructure and ecological systems. In South Africa, and worldwide, there is a paucity of studies that focus on understanding the nexus of these interacting systems. The objectives of this study are twofold: to examine the spatial distribution and variation in stormwater quality; and to examine the extent of residents’ knowledge and understanding of urban stormwater systems