The purpose of the draft Integrated Water Quality Management (IWQM) Policy provides framework towards managing water quality in South Africa and is approved by Cabinet for public comments.
South Africa is faced with water challenges, both quantity and quality, which, if not addressed effectively, has the potential to significantly limit the economic growth of the country. The deterioration of water quality in rivers, streams, dams, wetlands, estuaries and aquifers impacts on the economy; on human health; on aquatic ecosystems and reduces the amount of water available for use.
The National Water Act (NWA), 1998 (Act 36 of 1998) provides a framework for the protection, use, development, conservation, management and control of water resources for the country as a whole. Chapter 2 of the NWA makes provision for the development of strategies in order to facilitate the proper management of resources. The National Water Resource Strategy-2 (NWRS2) provides the overall framework for water resource management in the country.
The deteriorating water quality is as a result of the effluent discharges from urban and industrial areas, seepage and discharges from areas that support mining, and pollution from intensive agriculture. The combined effects of poor water quality have a significantly negative impact on socio-economic development in South Africa.
Effective management of water quality in South Africa is thus a developmental issue, not simply an environmental issue, and must be addressed by Government (not just the Department of Water and Sanitation) in collaboration with its partners in civil society and the private sector. Without a radical improvement in integrated water quality management, worsening water quality will continue to decrease the socio-economic and environmental benefits and increase the costs associated with the use of the country’s water resources. This has resulted in the Department of Water and Sanitation reviewing its water policy of 1991 and align with the new development and government imperatives.
There are seventeen Principles that underpin the IWQM Policy to ensure that the approach to Water Quality Management is structured, transparent and predictable.
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POLICY PRINCIPLE |
POLICY POSITION |
DESCRIPTION OF THE POLICY PRINCIPLE |
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PRINCIPLE 1:
GOVERNMENT-WIDE IWQM
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It is the constitutional duty of all spheres of government to protect
the quality of South Africa’s water resources.
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The policy calls for an intergovernmental
approach to WQM.
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PRINCIPLE 2:
PEOPLE-CENTRIC
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Public participation is a crucial element of IWQM and must be promoted to ensure active and engaged citizenry.
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PRINCIPLE 3:
SUBSIDIARITY AND
ACCOUNTABILITY
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Water quality must be managed at the lowest appropriate level and the institutions responsible for managing water quality must be held accountable.
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PRINCIPLE 4:
TRANSBOUNDARY IWQM
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Water pollution has spatial dimensions that cross an array of administrative and natural boundaries. International, national, provincial and local boundaries do not typically align with natural boundaries creating an array of planning, management and operational challenges that need consideration.
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PRINCIPLE 5:
PARTNERSHIPS
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In order to manage water quality effectively, partnerships must be developed between government, the private sector and civil society.
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The policy calls for the formalised approach to partnerships to support IWQM.
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PRINCIPLE 6:
ADMINISTRATIVE FAIRNESS AND
IMPLEMENTABILITY |
Regulation must be administratively fair, and must also be effectively implementable within technical and financial resource constraints.
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PRINCIPLE 7:
ADOPT ADMINISTRATIVE
PENALTIES
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A system of effective administrative penalties for water pollution offences must be adopted.
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The policy calls for a penalty
system to deal with polluters.
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PRINCIPLE 8:
AN INTEGRATED AND ADAPTIVE
APPROACH
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An integrated and adaptive, systems-based resource, remediation and source directed approach which manages the water resource
system as a whole at catchment or sub-catchment scale will be adopted, e.g. to include integration between “quality” and “volume”,
integrated planning and integrated regulation.
Emerging areas of concern further include unconventional gas development as well as carbon capture and storage development.
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PRINCIPLE 9:
HIERARCHIES OF POLLUTION MANAGEMENT
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Pollution management will follow a hierarchy of decision-making permeated by:
• Prevent, where possible.
• Minimise, where possible or be subjected to specific licence conditions or minimum standards.
• If the above options have been exhausted, then the Precautionary approach applies minimum standards.
• For catchment specific responses, a differentiated approach is applied. This allows for continuous improvement and adaptive
management approaches. Rehabilitation and reclassification will be applied in catchment specific contexts as needed.
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PRINCIPLE 10:
PROMOTION OF
GREEN/ECOLOGICAL
INFRASTRUCTURE RESTORATION
AND REHABILITATION
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Rehabilitation and restoration of catchments will be pursued, including the use of green/ecological infrastructure.
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The policy calls for the inclusion
of green/ ecological infrastructure in the management of water quality.
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PRINCIPLE 11:
RISK-BASED APPROACH
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A risk-based approach to regulation will be adopted, based on the likely magnitude of potential impacts.
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The Policy calls for the regulation based on the understanding of the magnitude of the pollution risk.
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PRINCIPLE 12:
WATER QUALITY IS A
DEVELOPMENTAL ISSUE
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In addressing the management of water quality, the developmental, economic, social and environmental impacts of deteriorating water quality must be taken into account.
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PRINCIPLE 13:
BROADENED FUNDING
MECHANISMS
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The mechanisms for funding integrated water quality management must be broadened, given that water quality has impacts on, and is
impacted by, many different sectors, and recognising the negative developmental impact of declining water quality.
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The policy calls for a shift away
from just the traditional funding
mechanisms.
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PRINCIPLE 14:
POLLUTER PAYS
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The costs of remedying pollution, degradation of resource quality and resulting adverse health effects, and of preventing, minimising or
controlling pollutions is the responsibility of the polluter.
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PRINCIPLE 15:
INFORMED PUBLIC
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Efforts to ensure that broader societal awareness of the importance of resource water quality will prove increasingly important in
catalysing more responsible behaviours.
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PRINCIPLE 16:
DATA IS A STRATEGIC ASSET
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Data on water quality must be standardised, reliable and scientifically defensible and must be collected, managed and protected as a
strategic asset for monitoring, management, legal actions and research purposes, while also being used to support co-learning and
adaptive management.
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The policy signifies the importance of data as a strategic
asset in the management of
water quality.
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PRINCIPLE 17:
PUBLICLY AVAILABLE
INFORMATION
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Information and data on water quality and waste discharges must be available in the public domain and should be used to enhance public awareness and education, and to support adaptive management approaches. |
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The Department of Water and Sanitation is in the process of gazetting the Integrated Water Quality Management (IWQM) Policy to afford the public and society as a whole an opportunity to make written submission.