ABSTRACT
SEA has had considerable influence on planning water allocations in South Africa. The National Water Act (NWA, No 36 of 1998) abolished the concept of ‘private water’. It requires that catchment resources be allocated first and foremost to meet primary or basic human needs, the environmental reserve and international obligations. The Act established 19 water management areas (WMAs), each to be managed by a catchment management agency (CMA). In addition, it empowers the Minister of Water Affairs to declare stream flow reduction activities (SFRAs). These can be any land-based activities (including cultivation of any particular crop or other vegetation) that significantly impact on the flow of a river or stream. At present, only forestry is declared an SFRA. Other activities that might be viewed as SFRAs in the future include: dry land agricultural cropping, veld 28 improvement, alien invasives, and, possibly, stock watering dams and small farm dams. Impoundments (storage) are already viewed as a ‘water use’ by the NWA – an alternative would be to change the minimum size required for licensing storage to include smaller farm and stock watering dams. This can also be done on a specific catchment basis. The Catchment Management and Poverty Alleviation (CAMP) programme (funded by DFID) has, however, suggested that dry land agriculture actually actually increases stream flow over natural veld.
