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South Africa's National
Water Act (NWA) [PDF
- 239 KB] replaced all previous rights to water use with an entitlement
under the new Act. The NWA now only makes provision for one "right" to water,
the Reserve. This is the water required for basic human needs and to maintain
water ecosystem functioning. Except for the water required for this Reserve and
basic human needs use, all other water uses must be authorised by the Department
of Water and Sanitation or a Catchment Management Agency(CMA).
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These authorisations may be one of the following:
- Schedule 1 use - small volumes of water for household use only.
No application for a licence needs to be made.
- General Authorisations - larger volumes of water may be
generally authorised
for a specific type of water use or category of water user. These users need to
register their use but do not need a licence.
- Existing Lawful Use – this allows water use that was
lawfully used before the NWA
came into effect to continue until it can be converted into a licence using
compulsory licensing.
- Licensed Water Use – Licences are issued under the NWA, and
require approval of an application by the Department of Water and
Sanitation.
>> more about how licences are processed.
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