Catchment Management Agencies Research Articles

Principles and legal tools for equitable water resource allocation: prioritization in South Africa

ABSTRACT South Africa’s legally binding National Water Resource Strategy specifies a people-oriented prioritization for the equitable allocation of the nation’s public trust of surface and groundwater resources. This article analyses how the Inkomati–Usuthu Catchment Management Agency seeks to operationalize the three highest priorities in the Sabie Sub Catchment: the Basic Human Needs Reserve for domestic and constitutionally based productive water uses; customary water tenure in former homelands prioritized over the upstream commercial forestry and large-scale farming and the downstream Kruger National Park; and priority General Authorizations overcoming administrative injustices of current licensing. These highest priorities imply curtailment of the lowest priority, high-impact economic uses.

Pandora's Box: assessing the current trends and challenges of IWRM in the uMngeni catchment

AbstractThe uMngeni catchment in KwaZulu-Natal faces numerous challenges that threaten the availability and quality of water resources. To understand the prevalent issues, the purpose of the study was to assess the institutional aspects that may or may not have facilitated Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM). Twenty-one semi-structured interviews were conducted, and development planning and environmental management tools were analysed. Water User Associations (WUAs) are statutory bodies and have not been established at the local level. Moreover, an operational Catchment Management Agency (CMA) at the regional level is non-existent. Consequently, the implementation of IWRM has been very limited. The establishment of the uMngeni Ecological Infrastructure Partnership (UEIP) has facilitated the integration of role-players in the absence of an operational CMA. Most of the spatial planning and environmental management tools feature water resource planning except for the integrated waste management plans. As a result, poor solid waste management contributes to the poor water quality in the uMngeni catchment. The challenges remaining are the poor implementation of plans due to a lack of human and financial resources. Therefore, the gap created by a non-existent operational CMA means catchment management activities will continue to negatively affect water resources and the degree to which water resource management is integrated.

Numerical assessment of the effect of water-saving irrigation on the water cycle at the Manas River Basin oasis, China

Mulch drip irrigation is widely used in the arid areas of Northwest China. Consequently, the Manas River Basin has developed into the fourth largest irrigated agricultural area in China. In this study, a groundwater model of the regional water cycle was developed to quantitatively assess the groundwater balance in response to different irrigation schemes, including traditional irrigation, conventional water-saving irrigation, and high-efficiency water-saving irrigation schemes. Our results reveal that 1) The water-saving irrigation technology has affected the water cycle process in farmlands. The higher the degree of water conservation, the lower the infiltration into groundwater, the higher the deficit of the groundwater balance, and the more significant the decline of the groundwater level. 2) The groundwater at the Manas River Basin remains in a negative equilibrium state. To achieve an equilibrium state of the groundwater at the Manas River Basin, the catchment management agencies should restrict the scale of oasis development and the utilization of groundwater.

Challenges to Implementing an Environmental Flow Regime in the Luvuvhu River Catchment, South Africa.

Rivers are now facing increasing pressure and demand to provide water directly for drinking, farming and supporting industries as a result of rapidly growing global human population. Globally, the most common practice for catchment managers is to limit water abstraction and changes to stream flow by setting environmental flow standards that guard and maintain the natural ecosystem characteristics. Since the development of the environmental flow concept and methods in South Africa, very few studies have assessed the institutional constraints towards environmental flow implementation. This study determined stream flow trends over time by fitting simple linear regression model to mean daily stream flow data at three selected stations in the Luvuvhu River Catchment (LRC). We also conducted a literature search to review, firstly the response of aquatic organisms (fish and macroinvertebrate) to changes in habitat conditions and secondly on local challenges affecting the sustainable implementation of environmental flow regime and related water resources management strategies. All the three stream flow stations show decreasing stream flow volume of 1 and 2 orders of magnitude faster in some stations with the possibility that flow will cease in the near future. Qualitative analyses from both local and international literature search found that the main challenges facing the implementation of sustainable flow strategies and management are absence of catchment management agency, lack of understanding of environmental flow benefits, limited financial budget, lack of capacity and conflict of interest. Rivers with changing stream flows tend to lose sensitive species. The development of scientifically credible catchment-wide environmental flow and abstraction thresholds for rivers within the LRC would make a major contribution in minimizing the declining stream flow volumes. Monitoring and reporting should be prioritized to give regular accounts of the state of our rivers.

A Systems Analysis Approach to Identifying Critical Success Factors in Drinking Water Source Protection Programs

The success of source protection in ensuring safe drinking water is centered around being able to understand the hazards present in the catchment then plan and implement control measures to manage water quality risk to levels which can be controlled through downstream barriers. The programs in place to manage source protection are complex sociotechnical systems involving policy, standards, regulators, technology, human factors and so on. This study uses System Theoretic Process Analysis (STPA) to analyze the operational hazards of a typical drinking water source protection (DWSP) program and identify countermeasures to ensure safe operations. To validate the STPA results a questionnaire was developed based on selective grouping of the initial countermeasures identified and distributed to specialists in DWSP in Taiwan, Australia and Greece. Through statistical analysis using Principle Components Analysis (PCA), the study identified four critical success factors (CSFs) for DWSP based on the questionnaire responses. The four CSFs identified were “Policy and Government Agency Support of Source Protection”, “Catchment Risk Monitoring and Information”, “Support of Operational Field Activities” and “Response to Water Quality Threats”. The results of this study provide insight into the approach of grouping of source protection measures to identify a series of targeted CSF for operational source protection programs. Using CSF can aid catchment management agencies in ensuring that the risk level in the catchment is managed effectively and that threats to public health from drinking water are managed appropriately.

Updating public participation in IWRM: A proposal for a focused and structured engagement with Catchment Management Strategies

Despite the strong emphasis on public participation in the National Water Act (NWA), South Africa has yet to implement a comprehensive and functional approach to public engagement at the level of Water Management Areas. Part of the problem is that actual requirements are not explicitly articulated anywhere. This has led to the situation where public participatory processes are poorly conceptualised, misdirected and often perceived as confusing by stakeholders. ‘Participation fatigue’ is the consequence of this accompanied by a growing frustration with the implementation of the content of the Act. The intention for decentralised democratic water resources management is consequently seriously jeopardised if the public participation processes are not clearly presented in the public domain. In this paper we draw on a number of sources, namely a national pilot integrated catchment management programme called the Save the Sand Project initiated in the north-eastern part of SA, a Water Research Commission project on public participation and a DWAF project that funded the exploration of public participation in the Sand River Catchment. The latter (2005 -2007) supported a better understanding of public participation processes and dynamics in a high-density rural catchment, the findings from which are reported here. Additionally this paper is referenced against the current discourse on public participation in water resources aimed at elucidating public participation in integrated water resource management (IWRM) in South Africa. The focus of the work reported in this paper is specifically on the development and implementation of catchment management strategies as the locus of decentralised, democratised, participatory water resource management. In this paper we start out by discussing how complexities surrounding public engagement might present newly established catchment management agencies (CMAs) with serious challenges and then move on to a proposed framework for focusing public engagement on specific IWRM tasks. The framework outlines tasks where multi-stakeholder platforms collaboratively design strategic water management actions that are assembled as the catchment management strategy (CMS), a statutory obligation for CMAs. Keywords: public participation, catchment management strategies, National Water Act, integrated water resource management

Building capacity for co-operative governance as a basis for integrated water resource managing in the Inkomati and Mvoti catchments, South Africa

South Africa's National Water Act and National Water Resource Strategy set out an ambitious vision for Integrated Water Resources Management including a strong focus on the redistribution of water resources towards the poor and on empowering historically disadvantaged communities. To achieve this vision the Department of Water Affairs & Forestry (DWAF) has been pursuing a programme for devolving powers to 19 stakeholder-led catchment management agencies (CMAs) and more locally, transforming irrigation boards into more inclusive water user associations (WUAs), as well as creating new associations. Co-operative governance is a core principle of this programme. As well as being enshrined in South Africa's constitution, this principle is seen as key to enabling CMAs to implement their core functions, which include co-ordinating the activities of water users and water management institutions within their water management area. For WUAs also, the principle of co-operative governance is key to building engagement between White commercial farmers and emerging Black farmers, as well as (in some cases) engaging with a wider set of stakeholder interests including local government and environmental interests. Despite a commitment to the principle of co-operative governance, individual and institutional capacity for facilitating co-operative development processes is in relatively short supply within the South African water sector. This paper describes work-in-progress to build capacity in this area, working with: •� DWAF'snationalInstitutionalGovernanceteam •� TheInkomatiCMA�(ICMA),�thefirstofSouthAfrica'snewcatchmentmanagementagencies •� Two��irrigationboardsandanumberofotherstakeholdersintheMvoticatchment�-�withaviewtothedevelopmentofan� appropriate institutional arrangement (WUA or otherwise) for the co-operative governance of this catchment. This paper focuses on the development of an interactive approach to capacity building in each of these three sites, drawing from a broad portfolio of approaches variously described as social learning, social appraisal, or whole system development. In the Inkomati we have worked primarily with the whole system approach known as Future Search, whereas in the Mvoti we have used the U-process and social appraisal as guiding metaphors and design principles. � Thispaperdescribessomeofourachievements,�challengesandreflectionstodate,�andarguesthattheinteractive� approaches we have been taking are better suited to the implementation of DWAF's institutional reform processes than the more established, top-down approaches, which involve issuing guidance, supported by training programmes. The paper con- cludes with a discussion of the implications for scaling up these types of approaches across the South African water system as a whole, and for the practice of integrated water resource management.

The politics of establishing catchment management agencies in South Africa: the case of the Breede-Overberg Catchment Management Agency

Copyright: 2014 Edward Elgar Publishing, UK. Due to copyright restrictions, the attached PDF file only contains the pre-print of the full text item. For access to the full text item, please consult the publisher's website.

The status quo of research on South Africa’s water resource management institutions

The South African water resource management institutional landscape has seen some dramatic changes since the new dispensation came into power in 1994. Not only have legislation and policies changed, but there has also been a significant increase in the number of non-state actors in the policy development process. Water resource governance has therefore become more complex and its regulatory component is being implemented by a number of legislative institutions: catchment management agencies, water user associations, irrigation boards, and international water management bodies. Policy development is influenced by a myriad of non-state actors, scientists included. A comprehensive literature review of research on water resource management institutions published between 1997 and 2011 shows that scientists are focusing predominantly on catchment management agencies and aspects regarding their institutionalisation and organisational functionality. There is much less of a focus on other entities, such as advisory committees, international water management bodies, irrigation boards, the water tribunal and water user associations. What the review has also revealed is that research on water resource management institutions has been conducted predominantly by scientists from the natural sciences. There is therefore an evident need for a research focus on water resource management institutions other than catchment management agencies. In addition, there should be a focus on informal aspects of water resource governance and new theoretical developments, also from disciplines other than the natural sciences, in the fields of water resource governance and politics.Keywords: Water resource management institutions, literature review, catchment management agencies,water user associations, legislation, irrigation boards, catchment forums, international water management bodies

The challenges of rescaling South African water resources management: Catchment Management Agencies and interbasin transfers

Summary The implementation of Catchment Management Agencies (CMAs) was supposed to be the cornerstone of the rescaling process of the South African water reform policy. Yet, less than 10 years after the adoption of the National Water Act, the process was suspended for 4 years and by 2012 only two CMAs had been established. Combining approaches in geography and political science, this paper investigates the reasons for the delays in CMAs’ implementation in South Africa. It shows that the construction of interbasin transfers (IBTs) since the 1950s by the apartheid regime and nowadays the power struggles between CMAs and the Department of Water Affairs (DWA) are two of the main obstacles to the creation of CMAs planned by the 1998 National Water Act (NWA). Finally, the paper advocates taking the “hydrosocial cycle” as an analytical framework for designing new institutional arrangements that will include both rectifying the legacy of the past (the specific role of DWA) and acknowledging legitimate local interests.

Impact of physicochemical factors on zooplankton species richness and abundance in Bompai-Jakara catchment basin, Kano State, Northern Nigeria

A study on the impact of physicochemical factors on zooplankton species richness and abundance was carried out in Bompai-Jakara catchment for a period of two years (2009-2010). Six (6) sampling sites designated as A, B, C, D, E, and F were chosen. Plankton net of 70ƒEm mesh size of 25cm diameter was used in collecting grab samples of zooplanktons through vertical hauling. Physicochemical parameters such as temperature, pH, transparency, dissolved oxygen (DO), electrical conductivity (EC), and total dissolved solids (TDS) were determined using mercury-inglass thermometer, pH meter, Secchi disk, DO meter and EC/TDS meter respectively. Monthly sampling was conducted between January, 2009 and December, 2010. Result showed reduced zooplankton species richness between 2009 and 2010 of 33 spp. and 21 spp. respectively. Likewise there was observed reduction in zooplankton abundance with 289.07 org/L and 218.0 org/L in 2009 and 2010 respectively. But there was no significant difference at P.0.05. There was significant negative correlation between zooplankton abundance and temperature, pH and TDS at P.0.05. This study revealed that physicochemical fluctuations was negative impact on the zooplankton species richness and abundance, thus, the need for the government to establish catchment management agency in order to curtail the menace that disrupt the aquatic ecosystem. Keywords : abundance, ecosystem, catchment basin, physicochemical, richness, zooplankton

TRANSFORMING WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA. ‘CATCHMENT MANAGEMENT AGENCIES’ AND THE IDEAL OF DEMOCRATIC DEVELOPMENT

AbstractThis article addresses the dilemma of the democratic development of water resources management in the context of Post‐Apartheid South Africa and unequal access to water. Using a political sociology of public policy approach as a conceptual framework, this article focuses on the actual functioning of the catchment management agencies (CMAs). On the basis of case studies' analysis, it is argued that CMAs are essentially political arenas although the semi‐structured interviews conducted reveal that this political dimension is mainly denied by most of CMAs members and staff as well as by policy makers. Finally, the risks of professionalising interest representation within CMAs are evoked. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Catchment management agencies as crucibles in which to develop responsible leaders in South Africa

During the past 17 years in South Africa, far-reaching policy, legislation and institutional changes in water-related governance have occurred. Responsible leaders have ensured that a paradigm of integrated water resource management (IWRM) is firmly entrenched in the above policy, legislation and institutional arrangements. IWRM in turn demands a level of interaction between individuals, disciplines and organisations such that multi-sector, multi-level stakeholders can collectively, timeously, wisely and cost-effectively visit the consequences of their proposed, present and past actions. Such social learning processes demand leadership and the ongoing development of leaders at all levels. This paper is structured around the propositions for leadership development in the field outlined by Scharmer (2009a). The principal aim of the paper is to reveal the extent to which the multi-sector catchment management agency (CMA) phenomenon is an ideal crucible for leadership development in the field. It is argued that the complex adaptive system that embodies the water realm needs to be engaged by developing complex adaptive systems of governance and that the CMAs have the potential to meet this requirement. Furthermore, it is argued that processes to achieve this required leadership are also ideal for developing leadership. At a time when worldwide developments in communication and computer technology have spawned an exponential growth in successful endeavours related to self-organising around common challenges, the CMA provides a unique and nourishing context for self-organising that simultaneously connects to South Africa’s water governance mainstream of policies, laws, institutions and administrative procedures.

FORMULATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF POLICIES TO DEAL WITH GROUNDWATER OVERUSE IN MOROCCO: WHICH SUPPORTING COALITIONS?

ABSTRACTThe Moroccan administration is showing increasing interest in designing policies to tackle groundwater overuse. In particular, it aims to set up aquifer management contracts for the main overused aquifers, which should bring together broad coalitions of actors around coordinated supply and demand policies. This article analyses to what extent the actors involved in groundwater use and management are coming together for the definition and implementation of policies to deal with groundwater overuse in four regions. A broad coalition has been built around the design of an aquifer management contract only in the Souss. Catchment management agencies and the Ministry of the Interior collaborate to control the drilling of boreholes in the Saiss, Souss and Berrchid regions. Large‐scale farmers in the Souss support the Ministry of Agriculture and the Souss Massa catchment management agency in developing more water resources. Small‐scale farmers were involved in none of these coalitions. The depth of the aquifer, the importance of the groundwater economy in each region, and the motivation and capacities of actors help explain the diversity in the coalitions that were created. While such elements help define the way coalition building may be supported in each case, in all cases particular human resources and skills will be needed to catalyse such coalitions, as will innovative ways to include small‐scale farmers. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Framework for effective community participation in water quality management in Luvuvhu Catchment of South Africa

A study has been done in Luvuvhu Catchment to develop a framework for effective community participation in water quality monitoring and management. Community participation and involvement in development has since the 1970s gathered momentum among the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) fraternity but has never gained clear status with Governments world over. In South Africa the policy and legal frameworks for community consultation, involvement and participation are clearly spelt out on paper starting with the country’s constitution. The division of the country into Water Management Areas (WMA) and the formation of Catchment Management Agencies (CMA), Water User Associations (WUAs) for example, was meant to increase participation of stakeholders including communities in the management of water resources. These efforts have not translated into effective participation by local communities in the management of water resources because there is no link between the national water quality management frameworks and community based development structures.An extensive review of development frameworks including community based structures has been undertaken. The most critical frameworks identified were the national water quality management framework (Directorate of Water Quality Monitoring and Catchment Management Agencies), community based structures and local government structures and systems (municipalities, provincial and national structures). There was no flow of information between the national water quality framework and community based development structures and therefore linkages were created between the lower tiers of the catchment management system (sub catchment fora and WUAs) to allow for information from the Directorate of Quality Monitoring to reach communities and vice versa. The lower tiers of the catchment management system should serve as specialised committees under the community development structures. The municipalities who control and fund development activities at community level should be linked to the catchment management system so that information can flow between the lower tiers of the catchment management system and communities on one hand and the municipalities on the other. The water quality monitoring information generated at community level should flow through community development structures, sub catchment fora, the Catchment Forum (where municipalities are members), the CMA and into the Directorate of Water Quality Monitoring.

Assuming too much? Participatory water resource governance in South Africa

This paper argues that participation in natural resource management, which is often coupled with moves for more local ownership of decision making, is based on three sets of assumptions: about the role of the state, the universality of application of such approaches and the transformatory potential of institutional reform. The validity of these assumptions requires investigation in view of the rapid institutionalisation and scaling-up of participatory approaches, particularly in developing country contexts. Post-apartheid South Africa is widely recognised as a pioneer of participatory and devolutionary approaches, particularly in the field of water resources. It is 12 years since the promulgation of the forward-thinking 1998 National Water Act, and thus an opportune moment to reflect on South Africa's experiences of participatory governance. Drawing on empirical research covering the establishment of the first Catchment Management Agency, and the transformation of existing Irrigation Boards into more inclusive Water User Associations in the Inkomati Water Management Area, it emerges that there may be fundamental weaknesses in the participatory model and underlying assumptions, and indeed such approaches may actually reinforce inequitable outcomes: the legacy of long-established institutional frameworks and powerful actors therein continues to exert influence in post-apartheid South Africa, and has the potential to subvert the democratic and redistributive potential of the water reforms. It is argued that a reassessment of the role of the state is necessary: where there is extreme heterogeneity in challenging catchments more, rather than less, state intervention may be required to uphold the interests of marginalised groups and effect redistribution.

Catchment management in semi-arid area of central South Africa: Strategy for improving water productivity

In the semi-arid part of central South Africa, population growth and industrial development are the driving forces for an increased demand for water. This accentuates the need for wise decisions by catchment management agencies (CMAs), especially in water-scarce semi-arid areas. These decisions become more and more complex as the range of demands widens over the spectrum of water consumers, i.e. municipal, industrial, irrigation and rain-fed farming. A study was conducted in the Upper Modder River catchment, which is situated in the semi-arid area of central South Africa, where crop production in the catchment using conventional production technique is currently not suitable due to marginal and erratic rainfall. Moreover, the area is characterised by low precipitation use efficiency because of large runoff and evaporation losses on clay and duplex soils. A labour intensive in-field rainwater harvesting (IRWH) technique recently introduced into a part of the basin occupied by communal farmers has been shown to increase maize and sunflower yields by 30 to 50% compared to conventional tillage, making it a feasible option for the subsistence farmers in the catchment. The area of land suitable for the IRWH located in the communal land is estimated to be 23 000 ha. Two catchment management options presented in this paper are:• Option1: allowing the IRWH suitable land in the communal farming area to remain under grassland and utilising the runoff downstream for irrigating maize• Option 2: utilising the IRWH suitable land for maize production in the basin, using the IRWH techniqueResults showed that the expected maize production from Option 2 was higher than from Option 1. A financial analysis also showed that gross margin of option, expressed as R/ m3 of rainwater utilised, was estimated to be between 0.0234 to 0.0254 under Option 1 and 0.0354 for Option 2. This clearly shows that use of rainwater where it falls has high socio-economic benefits for the communal farmers who are currently struggling to achieve sustainable livelihoods.

Water Rights in South Africa: Insights from Legislative Reform

Inequality of access to water resources marks South Africa's history even more profoundly than inequality of access to land. Redistribution of rights to water to redress the results of past discrimination is an explicit purpose of the National Water Act of 1998 (NWA). In other respects the NWA is consistent with 'best practice' embodied in the 1992 Dublin principles. Under the NWA, water management is devolved to 17 Catchment Management Agencies (CMA), each with a governing board that is representative of the water users within the catchment. This paper traces the development and current status of the Inkomati CMA, the first to be approved (in 2004) by the South African government. In the Inkomati catchment water use is dominated by established commercial agriculture and forestry, by important environmental interests, including the Kruger National Park, and by the demands for improved access to water from a black population of around 1.5 million living in ex-bantustan areas. The paper reflects on the experience of the Inkomati CMA and considers the insights it provides, both on universal 'best practice' principles and also on the role of water management as an arena of political struggle, compromise and experimentation in South Africa.

The tragedy of the water commons: the case of the Lower Orange water management area

In the human environment there is a tendency to refer to resources, such as land and water which do not specifically belong to any single individual, as the ‘commons’. Garret Hardin wrote his famous paper called: “The Tragedy of the Commons” in which he highlighted the problem inhabitants of the world face regarding the growing population and depletion of natural resources. He proposed that limits must be placed on the liberal use of natural resources, which usually involve some kind of legislation. South Africa, as a semi-arid country, needs to manage the water as a commons to ensure that all inhabitants of the country have access to safe drinking water as instructed by the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa Act No. 108 of 1996 and subsequently preserved in the National Water Act No 36 of 1998. The significance of Hardin’s theory to South Africa becomes evident in the necessity of the mentioned acts, which involve the establishment of Catchment Management Agencies (CMAs) and Water User Associations (WUAs). These institutions must ensure the involvement of all stakeholders and water users to manage the resource optimally. Establishing these institutions, however, proved to be difficult and their efficiency questioned, thus illustrating a “tragedy within the tragedy”. This article considers the case of the Lower Orange Catchment Management Agency and the Upington Islands Water User Association in the //Khara Hais local municipality, to illustrate the thus far failing efforts taken by this region to manage the water resource.

The working for water programme: Evolution of a payments for ecosystem services mechanism that addresses both poverty and ecosystem service delivery in South Africa

A payments for ecosystem services (PES) system came about in South Africa with the establishment of the government-funded Working for Water (WfW) programme that clears mountain catchments and riparian zones of invasive alien plants to restore natural fire regimes, the productive potential of land, biodiversity, and hydrological functioning. The success of the programme is largely attributed to it being mainly funded as a poverty-relief initiative, although water users also contribute through their water fees. Nevertheless, as the hydrological benefits have become apparent, water utilities and municipalities have begun to contract WfW to restore catchments that affect their water supplies. This emerging PES system differs from others in that the service providers are previously unemployed individuals that tender for contracts to restore public or private lands, rather than the landowners themselves. The model has since expanded into other types of ecosystem restoration and these have the potential to merge into a general programme of ecosystem service provision within a broader public works programme. There is a strong case for concentrating on the most valuable services provided by ecosystems, such as water supply, carbon sequestration, and fire protection, and using these as ‘umbrella services’ to achieve a range of conservation goals. The future prospects for expansion of PES for hydrological services are further strengthened by the legal requirement that Catchment Management Agencies be established. These authorities will have an incentive to purchase hydrological services through organisations such as WfW so as to be able to supply more water to their users.