Law and Catchment Management b What is it?

Cont. The Presentation b Theory of Catchment Management b Integrated Water resources Management b Water Management: The International Arena b The trigger of the reforms b Activities leading to reforms b Changes to the water Act b Formation of Catchment Councils

Theory of Catchment Management b Human activities b Causes of Erosion b Catchment management b Catchment Planning b Water Management

The environment b Atmosphere b Hydrosphere b Lithosphere

Lithosphere b Land b vegetation b Fauna b Human b water

Human activities Humans are at the centre b Keeps animals overgrazeovergraze trump grass and vegetationtrump grass and vegetation b cultivate the land b Puts various forms of infrastructure roads, industries, mines, waste dumps, waste treatment, etcroads, industries, mines, waste dumps, waste treatment, etc which discharge toxic wastewhich discharge toxic waste b cuts down trees b burns grass All this result in bare land & water degradation

Causes of Erosion Erosion is a result of a imbalance in the following forces Energy forces Energy forces –rainfall intensity –runoff volume –slope steepness –slope length resistive forcesresistive forces –soil erodibility –organic matter content –infiltration capacity

Causes of Erosion protective forcesprotective forces –vegetation cover –population pressure –conservation practice –conservation education when resistive and protective forces are low compared to energy forces erosion occurs

What weakens protective & resistive forces b Protective forces population pressurepopulation pressure –cultivation –trumping by animals conservation practicesconservation practices –cultivation down the slope –lack of stable slopes –lack of vegetation cover b Resistive force cutting down treescutting down trees overgrazingovergrazing burning of vegetationburning of vegetation

Consequences of Erosion b Land degradation creation of gulliescreation of gullies depletion of the soildepletion of the soil loss of soil nutrientsloss of soil nutrients loss in agricultural yieldsloss in agricultural yields b water degradation siltation of damssiltation of dams siltation of riverssiltation of rivers chemical water pollutionchemical water pollution

Catchment management b Catchment Management attempts to introduce good management land & its resources practices in order to avoid land & water degradation b Areas of focus are Catchment PlanningCatchment Planning Land ManagementLand Management Forestry managementForestry management Animal managementAnimal management water managementwater management

Catchment Management b Main Beneficiaries of catchment management Soil conservationSoil conservation water resources conservationwater resources conservation b the following are areas covered land managementland management –cultivation along the slope –contour ridging –stabilization of slopes – deforestation –gradients and stabilization of roads –streambank cultivation

Catchment Management forestry managementforestry management –protection against fires –afforestation –avoiding indiscriminate cutting of trees –avoiding overstocking animal managementanimal management –no overstocking –no overgrazing –grazing land (paddocks) water managementwater management

Catchment Planning b Land use planning b land development & management planning b Forestry deve. & management planning b Animal dev. & management planning b water dev. & management planning

Effect of poor Catchment management on water b Less groundwater recharge b decline of fish habitats (pools) b less water is available in damsin dams as ground wateras ground water as baseflowas baseflow b the incidence of flooding is increased b moisture recycling is reduced b Chemical and biological pollution increases

Water Management b Water Management (WM) is a subset of Catchment Management (CM) and is the subject of our discussion b The benefits of CM accrue to water conservation and WM b WM involves dealing with some of the following : Socio-economic issuesSocio-economic issues Institutional Set upInstitutional Set up legal processeslegal processes technical issuestechnical issues

Socio-economic issues Some of the socio-economic issues dealt with are as follows Water is important for life Equal accessEqual access Stakeholder participationStakeholder participation equitable allocationequitable allocation water for basic needswater for basic needs affordabilityaffordability –subsidies

Socio-economic issues water as an economic issue water for productive purposeswater for productive purposes –cost recovery –water use efficiency –Competing demands ( Allocation) –demand management –Sustainability of water resources –polluter pays –the user pays

Institutions Set up b Hierarchical (Regional) set up nationalnational 1st tier (basin)1st tier (basin) 2nd tier (catchment)2nd tier (catchment) 3rd tier (sub-catchment)3rd tier (sub-catchment) 4th tier (water user)4th tier (water user)

Institutions Set up (cont.) b Responsibilities policypolicy judiciaryjudiciary regulatoryregulatory implementationimplementation monitoring water usemonitoring water use b the main issues here are : water should be managed at the lowest appropriate levelwater should be managed at the lowest appropriate level Management should be streamlined as given aboveManagement should be streamlined as given above

legal processes b Institutions what is institutional set up?what is institutional set up? what are the functions ?what are the functions ? and what are the powers?and what are the powers? what procedure do they follow?what procedure do they follow? b Allocation who is eligible to apply?who is eligible to apply? Who allocates water?Who allocates water? what is the procedure? what is the procedure? under what conditions? under what conditions?

legal processes (cont.) b Shortages who has priority over who?who has priority over who? what are the procedures of informing users of the situation?what are the procedures of informing users of the situation? how to deal with shortage?how to deal with shortage? legal obligation of users?legal obligation of users? b Dispute resolution who deals with disputes?who deals with disputes? what is the procedure? what is the procedure? where does one appeal if not satisfied by a decisionwhere does one appeal if not satisfied by a decision

Technical issues b Surface & Groundwater hydrological monitoringhydrological monitoring –quantity –scarcity (drought) –abundance (flooding) –quality –utilization allocation systemsallocation systems assessment methodsassessment methods water balancewater balance monitor Allocate Water balance Assess

Technical cont. b Water Development flood controlflood control supply and demandsupply and demand –Water supply –irrigation –energy demand managementdemand management conjunctive useconjunctive use environmental impact assessmentsenvironmental impact assessments