Water Resource Protection in South Africa 5th World Water Forum – Istanbul, Turkey 16-22 March 2009 Harrison Pienaar - Department of Water Affairs and Forestry Stanley Liphadzi - Water Research Commission

Presentation Outline Legal Framework for Water Resource Protection (WRP) Contextualizing Water Resource Protection Giving Effect to WRP - Progress to Date Remarks Environmental Flows – A Research Perspective Ecosystem Goods and Services Environmental Flows Benefits Concluding Remarks

Legal Framework for WRP in SA Chapter 18 of Agenda 21 (14 June 1992) White Paper on National Water Policy of SA (April 1997) Water Law Principles (November 1996) National Water Act (NWA) (Act No 36 of 1998) Constitution of the RSA (Act No 108 of 1996) Water Resource Protection (Chapter 3 of NWA)

Contextualizing Water Resource Protection 1 2 Gazette classification system Classify each significant resource Resource Directed Measures The National Water Act specifies a series of measures which together are intended to ensure the comprehensive protection of all water resources. These measures are designed to protect the health of the water resource. They look after the quality of water, quantity of water, the animals that live in the water resource, and the vegetation (plants) around the water resource. All these must be healthy for the water resource to function properly and to provide water.   These measures are called resource-directed measures. One of the major challenges of sustainable water resource management is to assess as accurately as possible how much water can be taken out of the system before its ability to meet social, ecological and economic needs is reduced. The classification system and the determination of the resource quality objectives are two mechanisms that can be used to try and balance protection and development. Determine the Reserve Establish resource quality objectives 4 3

How much water can be used Classification of Water Resources Present state Level of protection Classification How much water can be used Future state

Gazetting of Classification System Section 12 of NWA provides that the Minister must prescribe a system for classifying water resources – requires gazetting the water resources classification (WRCS) The gazetted WRCS will provide a definition of the classes that are to be used and the procedures to be followed to recommend a class WRCS needs to be published in the Government Gazette for comments for not less than 60 days All comments received will be recorded and considered

7-Step Classification Procedure Water resources classification system to comprise of: Biophysical aspects Socio-economic status and trends Delineation of water resource units Functional relationship between resource units Develop alternate scenarios and outline their possible implications Evaluate with stakeholders and make recommendation Authority makes decision on class Management Ecological classification Natural A Moderately used/impacted AB,B, BC, C Heavily used/impacted CD, D Unacceptably degraded EF, F

The Bucket of Water analogy The Bucket of Water analogy. The Reserve can also be seen as a speed limit (or a restriction within prescribed limits) which allows governed use and enforces responsible behaviour through legislation. Travelling at “full speed” (or allowing unrestricted use) is dangerous and foolhardy, and ignores the rights of other users. To take the speed limit analogy further, the ecological Reserve determination could be seen as the means of finding out what the speed restriction for a particular stretch of road should be, depending on the type of traffic it has been accommodating, and will need to accommodate in the future.

Resource Quality Objectives Numerical and narrative descriptors of the conditions that must be met to achieve the recommended ecological management scenario Based on formally accepted departmental policy statements, methodologies or publications RQOs form part of the management of implementation phase of the Reserve and are not strictly speaking part of the Reserve determination. They act as targets for the Catchment Management Strategy. They can be achieve incrementally within agreed timeframes.

Giving Effect to WRP – Progress Implementation spans across several sectors and govt. departments Different govt. depts. have equally strong mandates Roles and responsibilities not always clearly defined DWAF - primarily water resource management DEAT - biodiversity conservation NDA/LA - land management DPLG - development planning across government Initiatives mostly reflect needs specific to one dept. or sector Collaboration between depts. or sectors easily complicated Cooperative governance inevitable to facilitate effective implementation DWAF has strong mandate wrt. water resource protection (chapter 3 of NWA)

Remarks Implementation of protection provisions in NWA Integration of decision-making processes Strategies to be technically sound (scientific and legal) More vigorous implementation crucial

Environmental Flows – Research Perspective South Africa has been active in E-flows research for years Environmental flows understandably linked to socio-economic growth and development Government and water institutions have e-flows related programmes/departments There is effort to empower local communities and users in managing their catchments Have began to acknowledge our limitations or short comings Strong research programmes and leadership

Ecosystems Goods and Services This must be done in the African (South African) contest- to be relevant and credible Working for Water and Working for Wetlands programmes had projects that advanced payment for ecosystem services (PES) and benefited local communities too: Increased water services and goods Rehabilitation (job and wealth creation) Downstream users compensate /pay landowners for the good stewardship of the land (natural capital)- Government carry the costs More still has to be done especial to accommodate intangible benefits

Environmental Flows Benefits Africa’s Economy depends on Water Imagine the National Parks without water Biodiversity / wild life Tourism Jobs GDP of the country Baseflows are important in rural areas (people, livestock/agric, and businesses) Strengthen relationships between neighboring countries Removes water from the political arena (Quality and quantity are equal important)

Concluding Remarks Redressing past inequities in water allocation and ensuring equity between generations simultaneously Ensuring “some for all forever”, together Protection often viewed as competing with socio-economic needs Administrative capacity to implement protection provisions of water legislation Linking water resource protection to water services provision critical

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