Consultation and collaboration - Integrated Water Resource Planning - page 79

account the needs and expectations of existing and potential water users
(s9(h)).
Under the Act, the Minister may establish guidelines for the prepa-
ration of catchment management strategies. The consequent Guidelines
for the development of Catchment Management Strategies in South Africa
require that a catchment management agency must consult with any
person or representative organisation 'whose activities affect or might
affect water resources within its water management area; and who have
an interest in the content, effect or implementation of the catchment
management strategy' (DWAF 2007: 7). It calls for public involvement
in creating a vision, advocates the 'right type of public participation at
the right time' at all stages of the process, integrates engagement and
capacity development, and suggests stakeholder participation in both
CMS development and implementation. Under the Act water user
associations can be established at a local level, as 'co-operative associa-
tions of individual water users who wish to undertake water-related
activities for their mutual benefit' (Chapter 8 preamble), generally
'established around a single or multiple-use of water by licensed users'
(DWAF 2007: 39).
International funding and development bodies, many of which have minimum
requirements or guidelines, have also played an important role in bringing
about effective stakeholder consultation. The World Bank requirement for
participation in instances of resettlement - a result of the Nam Thuen 2 case
- is an example. Efforts of NGOs such as International River Network have
had a considerable impact on the adoption of improved practices. In addition,
credit is due to the increasing number of corporate bodies that have adopted a
corporate development ethic, signed legal agreements, or have issued guide-
lines referring to stakeholder participation or 'participatory development'
(e.g., BC Hydro, Hydro Quebec, GTZ, and Meridian Energy (Baldwin and
Twyford 2007)).
Definitions of community engagement
Many terms are used to describe public involvement in policy and decision-
making processes, most commonly consultation, participation, and
engagement. Community engagement tends to imply greater involvement
of a wider range of people, and so is the preferred term in this topic. Some
definitions of community engagement are:
O Any process that involves the community in problem-solving or decision-
making and uses community input to make better decisions (IAP2, 2003);