National Water Resource Strategy

Abstract

FOREWORD The National Water Policy (1997) and the National Water Act (1998) are founded on Government's vision of a transformed society in South Africa, in which every person has the opportunity to lead a dignified and healthy life and to participate in productive economic activity. The First Edition of the National Water Resource Strategy (NWRS) describes how the water resources of South Africa will be protected, used, developed, conserved, managed and controlled in accordance with the requirements of the policy and law. The central objective of managing water resources is to ensure that water is used to support equitable and sustainable social and economic transformation and development. Because water is essential for human life the first priority is to ensure that water resources management supports the provision of water services -potable water and safe sanitation -to all people, but especially to the poor and previously disadvantaged. But water can do much more than that: water can enable people to make a living. The NWRS seeks to identify opportunities where water can be made available for productive livelihoods, and also the support and assistance needed to use the water effectively. Water is of course central to all economic activity. The NWRS provides a platform for the essential collaboration and co-operation among all departments in all spheres of government involved in economic development. It is an important input to the evolving National Spatial Development Framework, helping to provide a better understanding of the contribution that water can make to development in all departments' areas of activity. The National Water Act has transformed the way water is controlled, from a system of rights based on land ownership (the riparian system) to a system designed to allocate water equitably in the public interest. The progressive reallocation of water to sectors of society that were previously excluded from access to water can help to bridge the divide between the first and second economies, whilst maintaining existing beneficial water uses and encouraging the greater efficiencies needed in our dry country.