Putting water resource protection into practice: A decision support system to assess compliance with predefined protection limits for water resources in developing countries

Blesbokspruit River Catchment (BRC), Republic of South Africa (RSA). A decision support system (DSS) for enhancing policy implementation in water resource management is a tool developed to assist water resource managers to take informed decisions to ensure that policy objectives on water resource protection and sustainable utilization are achieved. Uncertainties associated with not knowing how water resource systems would respond to catchment management actions provide enormous challenges for water resource managers which demands application of adaptive management approach in water resource management practices. This study aimed to develop a conceptual framework for operationalizing adaptive management into a decision support system to promote rationality in water resource management. The feasibility of the framework was assessed with a case study of the Blesbokspruit River Catchment (BRC) in the Republic of South Africa, whereby compliance with legalized protection limits for instream water quality was assessed in a regulated river system. Adaptability, cost-effectiveness, consistency, transparency, versatility, treatability index and dilution flow adjustments enable application of an adaptive management approach into a DSS to improve decision-making regarding water resource protection. The results indicate that the developed framework serves as a useful tool allowing water resource managers to evaluate different options and select the most suitable solutions. These findings underscore the urgent need for a decision support system to operationalize adaptive management in water resource management to safeguard ecological ecosystem and public health. • Adaptability, cost-effectiveness, consistency, transparency, and versatility are key functions of a useful decision support system for water resource protection. • Real-time monitoring system is critical for a DSS to serve as a water resource operational tool to deal with changes required for iterative adjustments. • Treatability Index provides an indication of whether adaptive management to mitigate water quality challenges in a catchment are required. • Dilution Flow and adjustments on waste discharge limits serve as adaptive management initiatives to improve the water quality status of a water resource.