Читать книгу Sustainable Solutions for Environmental Pollution, Volume 2 - Группа авторов - Страница 67

It is therefore important that stakeholders understand the necessity of an integrated and tactical tailor-made approach in order to achieve benefits deriving from NBSs. Legislative provision for such an integrated approach to water management is implemented in South Africa. The country’s water legislation (i.e., National Water Act, Act 36 of 1998) provides for the protection of water resources through three main measures, namely:

1 Classification of water resources;

2 Determination of the reserve;

3 Setting of Resource Quality Objectives (RQOs) for the selected class.

These measures specifically address the determination of the level of protection that should be afforded to a water resource to ensure that it continues to function at a certain desired ecological state. However, as shown in Figure 1.12, these measures must also be implemented as part of an iterative process with stakeholders. This iterative approach toward Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) as envisaged by the South Africa’s National Water Department, takes into account water availability against water use requirements, which then informs the water balance.

Water classification scenarios are assessed in terms of their economic, social, and ecological implications. The scenarios, in effect, offer different pathways into the future, each representing a different trade-off between water-resource development and use, and protection of the resource. After public consultation, it is the government’s responsibility to decide on what that future will be. This iterative process should ultimately result in a countrywide coverage of catchment management plans, informed by stakeholders’ socio-economic needs and water use requirements. Finally, adaptive management is then considered whereby ongoing management and continuous improvement of the process is achieved through monitoring, evaluation, and enforcement.

Figure 1.12 South African National Water Department’s approach to integrated water resource management, after (King and Pienaar, 201I).