ABSTRACT
Over the past years, many studies around the world were conducted in observing changes in climate. Although it is a natural phenomenon for climate around the world to change over decades, there is a well-founded concern that human activities over the past two centuries have caused climate changes above the expected natural variation. Climate change can affect groundwater levels, recharge and groundwater contribution to baseflow. Very little research has been done on the future impact of climate change on groundwater resources in South Africa. This paper serves as a first step in assessing the impact of climate change on South African aquifers. The methodology applied in this research involves the use of scenarios from General Circulations Models (GCM’s) downscaled to the study area. The surface water-groundwater interaction is addressed through the use of GSFLOW with downscaled climate data as input.
