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One of the early set of reforms that South Africa embarked on after emerging from apartheid was in the water sector, following a remarkable, consultative process. The policy and legal reforms were comprehensive and covered almost all aspects of water management including revolutionary changes in defining and allocating rights to water, radical reforms in water management and supply institutions, the introduction of the protection of environmental flows, and major shifts in charging for water use and in the provision of free basic water. Over ten years of implementation of these policy and legislative changes mean that valuable lessons have already been learned and useful experiences gained in the challenge of effective water resources management and water services provision in a middle income country.
List of contents
Foreword.- Acknowledgements.- List of Contributors.- Abbreviations.- 1. The Political, Social and Economic Context of Changing Water Policy in South Africa Post-1994.- 2. Water Resource Situation, Strategies and Allocation Regimes in South Africa.- 3. Water Services in South Africa 1994 - 2009.- 4. Water, Sanitation and Wastewater Management: Some Questions for National Water Security in South Africa.- 5. Transforming Legal Access to Water to Redress Social Inequity and Economic Inefficiency.- 6. Protecting Aquatic Ecosystem Health for Sustainable Use.- 7. Catchment Management Agencies: A Case Study of Institutional Reform in South Africa.- 8. National Water Security: Planning and Implementation.- 9. Pricing of Water for Cost Recovery, Economic Efficiency and Social Equity.- 10. Mainstreaming Gender in Water Management in South Africa.- 11. The Role of Information Systems Management in the Management of Water.- 12. The Water Research Commission.- 13. Transboundary Water Management Issues Under the NWA and Regional Collaboration, Policies and Conventions.- 14. Lessons and Conclusions.- Index.
Summary
One of the early set of reforms that South Africa embarked on after emerging from apartheid was in the water sector, following a remarkable, consultative process. The policy and legal reforms were comprehensive and covered almost all aspects of water management including revolutionary changes in defining and allocating rights to water, radical reforms in water management and supply institutions, the introduction of the protection of environmental flows, and major shifts in charging for water use and in the provision of free basic water. Over ten years of implementation of these policy and legislative changes mean that valuable lessons have already been learned and useful experiences gained in the challenge of effective water resources management and water services provision in a middle income country.
