#63: National Water Act

A National Water Act is a regulation aiming to protect, use, develop, conserve, manage and control water resources as a whole.  

Rivers, dams, wetlands, the surrounding land, groundwater, as well as human activities that influence them, shall be managed in consideration of their being part of one cycle. This means that all water in the water cycle will be treated as part of the common resource. To achieve this objective, the National Water act devolves

Water management refers to the activities of analysing and monitoring water resources, as well as developing and implementing measures to keep the state of a water resource within what has been negotiated as desirable bounds (Pahl-Wostl, 2015).

Pahl-Wostl, C. (2015). Water Governance in the Face of Global Change—From Understanding to Transformation. Wiesbaden: Springer International Publishing.

to local authorities such as Catchment Management Agencies. In terms of water allocation, a National Water Act can define a hierarchy of access to water based on criteria such as basic human needs and the protection of the environment.

The purpose of the National Water Act in South Africa is far-reaching. Its overall ambition is to ensure that the South African water reserves are protected, used, developed, conserved, managed and controlled in sustainable ways with regards to ecosystem and biodiversity conservation. Rivers,  dams,  wetlands,  the surrounding  land,  groundwater,  as  well  as  human activities  that  influence  them,  are to be managed as one  cycle. The National Water act devolves

Water management refers to the activities of analysing and monitoring water resources, as well as developing and implementing measures to keep the state of a water resource within what has been negotiated as desirable bounds (Pahl-Wostl, 2015).

Pahl-Wostl, C. (2015). Water Governance in the Face of Global Change—From Understanding to Transformation. Wiesbaden: Springer International Publishing.

to local Catchment Management Agencies. In terms of water allocation, the National Water Act entails a hierarchy of access to water based on basic human needs and the protection of the environment. At the same time, necessary coordination arrangements are only generally suggested and no reference to the specific role of single actors or key connections between different actors are made.