South Africa (SA) is classified as a water-scarce country, with an estimated 21% of SA considered arid and 44% regarded as semi-arid. The competition for water resources among land uses is high, with the chief competitors being urban settlements, agriculture, and forestry. In an ongoing WRC project (K5/2966//4), Earth observation (EO) methods are being used to quantify the water use of different commercial forest genera, as well as among different plantation ages, species and regions (see Plantation forest and water use). Such information is not only critical for water resource management, but also for forestry as it will inform stream-flow reduction activities (SFRA). But SFRA decisions cannot be made unless the water use of other vegetation, such as indigenous forestry, is considered. As our research on commercial forest water use calculation from EO data, this project aims to use evapotranspiration (ET) data generated using EO methods to assess water use of indigenous forests. This will enable water use comparisons of variations among forest types, regions, landforms, soils, and seasons. In addition, it will allow for direct comparison with water use estimations of commercial forest plantations and other land uses (e.g., agriculture), which will be critical for informing future stream-flow reduction acitivities and decisions.