Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Within this framework, the National Minister retains responsibility for:
specifying the requirements of the Reserve;
specifying the water required for international obligations;
specifying a contingency to meet future needs;
authorising transfers between water management areas; and,
authorising water use for strategic purposes (e.g., power generation).
The national Department of Water Affairs and Forestry will administer these on
behalf of the Minister. Management of water resources outside of these functions may be
delegated to Catchment Management Agencies (CMAs) — when they have the required
capacity (see Catchment Management Agencies below).
WAR sits at the heart of the NWRS and the NWRS highlights a number of
catchments and Water Management Areas that are likely to be water stressed. The water
allocation process in these catchments may require curtailing existing lawful water uses
to achieve greater equity. If so, the compulsory licensing process will be used in these
catchments as a tool for reallocation. Accordingly, the NWRS has outlined a programme
for compulsory licensing in 100 significant surface and groundwater resources based on
these reconciliation scenarios.
Water use authorisations and compulsory licensing
The National Water Act makes provision for the authorisation of water use in three
ways. Schedule One use includes relatively small quantities of water mainly for domestic
purposes and stock watering. General Authorisations conditionally allow limited water
use without a license. Water Use Licenses control all other water uses.
Water use licensing will be the tool used to ensure equity in water use. In water-
stressed catchments, all water use can be reviewed via a compulsory licensing process.
Compulsory licensing may be used to:
achieve fair allocation in stressed catchments;
review prevailing water use to achieve equity;
promote the beneficial use of water in the public interest; and,
facilitate efficient management of the resource and protect resource quality.
Given that inequities in water use exist in almost every catchment, compulsory
licensing will be undertaken across the country. However, the greatest challenges for
reallocation will emerge in situations where there is insufficient water, or where water
quality is affecting water use, and existing lawful use of water will have to be curtailed to
meet the needs of equity. Cutting back on existing lawful use has complex political, legal,
and economic consequences. The manner in which this is done is critical to sustainable
development in South Africa.
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