Centre for Environmental Rights - Advancing Environmental Rights in South Africa

• The Water Amendment Act, No. 27 of 2014

• The Water Amendment Bill, 2014 (passed into law on 2 June 2014)

• National Water Resource Strategy (June 2013)
• Draft National Water Policy Review (30 August 2013)

• Regulations on Use of Water for Mining and Related Activities Aimed at the Protection of Water Resources (“GN704”) (4 June 1999)
• Regulations for the Establishment of the Classification System (17 September 2010)
• Water Use Registration Regulations (12 November 1999)
• Regulations on Financial Assistance to Resource Poor Farmers, 2007 (31 October 2007)
• Regulations regarding the safety of dams (24 February 2012)
• Regulations requiring the taking of water for irrigation purposes be measures, recorded and reported (17 February 2017)
• Regulations regarding the procedural requirements for water use licence applications and appeals (24 March 2017)

Regulations made under the Water Act, 1956 that are still applicable (despite the repeal of that Act) 

• Regulations for the Erection, Enlargement, Operation and Registration of Water Care Works (27 December 1985)
• Regulations in terms of section 9C (6) of the Water Act, 1956, relating to dams with a safety risk (25 July 1986)
• Regulations made under section 26D of the Water Act, 1956 (12 July 1995)

• Declaration of of the exploration for and the production of onshore unconventional oil and gas resources and any activities incidental thereto including but not limited to hydraulic fracturing as a controlled activity (16 October 2015)

• General authorisation for the rehabilitation of wetlands (18 December 2009)
• Revision of general authorisations (6 September 2013)
• General authorisation for water uses defined in section 21(c) and 21(i) (26 August 2016)
• General authorisation for taking and storing of a water resource (as contemplated in section 21(a) and (b)) (2 September 2016; came into effect on 2 March 2017)

• Determination of the nine water management areas in South Africa (16 September 2016)

Catchment Management Authorities

• Disestablishment of the Crocodile (West) and Marico Catchment Management Agency in the North West Province (8 November 2013)
• Disestablishment of the Thukela and Mvoti to Umzimkulu Catchment Management Agencies in KwaZulu-Natal Province (8 November 2013)
• Establishment of the Inkomati-Usuthu Catchment Management Agency (4 May 2014)
• Establishment of the Limpopo-North West Catchment Management Agency (23 May 2014)
• Establishment of the Pongola-Umzimkulu Catchment Management Agency (23 May 2014)
• Establishment of the Breede-Gouritz Catchment Management Agency through the extending of the boundary and area of operation of the Breede-Overberg Catchment Management Agency (23 May 2014)
• Establishment of the Olifants River Catchment Management Agency (27 February 2015)
• Establishment of the Vaal River Catchment Management Agency (29 January 2016)

Classes of water resources and water resource quality objectives

• Olifants catchment (22 April 2016)
• Olifants-Doorn catchments (22 April 2016)
• Upper Vaal catchment (22 April 2016)
• Middle Vaal catchment (22 April 2016)
• Lower Vaal catchment (22 April 2016)
• Inkomati cathcment (30 December 2016)
• Letaba catchment (30 Decembet 2016)

• Caledon-Modder Subsystem – Limiting the use of water for urban and irrigation purposes 
• Olifants Water Management Area – Limiting the use of water for urban, irrigation and industrial (including mining) purpose from the Middelburg Dam 
• Caledon River and Little Caledon River: Limiting the use of water for irrigation purposes (GN R594 in GG37872 of 1 August 2014) – part 1 & part 2
• Restrictions on the use of water for domestic, industrial and agricultural use from the Algoa Water Supply System in the Mzimvubu-Tsitsikamma Water Management Area (WM7) in the Eastern Cape Province (24 March 2015)
• Pongola-Mzimkhulu Water Management Area – Limiting the Use of Water from Goedertrouw, Hazelmere, Klipfontein, Hluhluwe, Lake Merthley, Umzinto, EJ Smith and Buffalo Systems in KwaZulu-Natal (3 July 2015)
• Limiting use water for irrigation, urban, industrial and mining purposes from the Mutshedzi, Nzhelele, Nwanedzi and Luphephe, Middle Letaba, Nsami, Mojadji and Tzaneen Sub-systems/dams (2 September 2015)
• Limiting the use of water for urban and irrigation purposes for the dams within the Sand-Vet Water-Users Association Water Supply Scheme (12 February 2016)
• Limiting the use of water for urban and irrigation purposes from the dams within the Caledon-Modder Subsystem (12 February 2016)
• Limiting the use of water for urban and irrigation purposes from the Kalkfontein Dam within the Kalkfontein Water User Association Water Supply Scheme (19 February 2016)
• Limiting the use of water for domestic, irrigation and industrial purposes from various dams and rivers systems in the Pongola-Mzimkhulu Water Management Area (24 March 2016)
• Limiting the use of water for irrigation and urban purposes from the Ohrigstad and Mkhombo/Rhenosterkop and Buffelskloof Subsystems/Dams and Catchments in Mpumalanga Province (22 April 2016)
• Limiting the use of water for the purposes of urban and irrigation purposes from the Armenia Dam within the Leeuw River Water Users Association Water Supply Scheme (27 May 2016)
• Limiting the use of water for urban and irrigation purposes in the catchment areas of the dams supplying the integrated Vaal River system and from the system (12 August 2016) (Withdrawal of this limitation – 17 March 2017)
• Limiting the use of water for urban and irrigation purposes for the dams within the Caledon-Modder Subsystem (26 August 2016)
• Limiting the use of water for urban, irrigation and industrial (including mining) purposes from the Middelburg Dam in the Olifants Water Management Area (26 August 2016)
• Limiting the use of water for urban and irrigation purposes from the Main Stem Orange River and dams within the Orange River System (26 August 2016)
• Limiting the use of water for urban, irrigation and industrial (including mining) purposes of the dams in the Breede-Gouritz and Olifants-Berg catchment areas (16 September 2016)
• Limiting the use of water for urban and irrigation purposes: North West Provincial Operations (14 October 2016)
• Limiting the use of groundwater for irrigation purposes from the Ventersdorp Eye Subterranean Government Water Control Area (23 December 2016)
• Limiting the use of water for urban and irrigation purposes from the Tosca Molopo Groundwater Aquifer (27 January 2017)
• Breede-Gouritz and Olifants-Berg Water Management Areas: Limiting the use of water for urban, irrigation and industrial (including mining) purposes abstracting water from dams and river systems served by the Western Cape Water Supply System (11 May 2017)
• Lifting the water restrictions for various stand-alone dams and systems in Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West and Free State Provinces (26 May 2017)
• Lifting of water restrictions for various stand-alone dams and systems in Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West and Free State Provinces (15 June 2017)

• Declaration that the Preliminary Water Allocation Schedule for the Mhlathuze River Catchment (25 March 2015)

• The installation of a packaged desalination plant and the upgrade of the Thukela-Goedertouw Transfer Scheme to mitigate the water crises in Richards Bay (6 February 2017)

• Proposal for the establishment of the Limpopo Catchment Management Agency
• Proposal for the establishment of the Pongola-Umzimkulu Catchment Management Agency
• Proposal for the establishment of the Olifants Catchment Management Agency
• Proposal for the establishment of the Vaal River Catchment Management Agency
• Proposal for the establishment of the Orange Catchment Management Agency (29 January 2016)
• Proposal for the establishment of the Mzimvubu-Tsitsikamma Catchment Management Agency (29 January 2016)
• Proposal for the establishment of the Berg-Olifants Catchment Management Agency (5 February 2016)

• Proposed declaration of the exploration for and the production of onshore unconventional oil and gas resources and any activities incidental thereto including but not limited to hydraulic fracturing as a controlled activity

• Draft Regulations regarding the procedural requirements for licence applications in terms of section 26(1)(k) (comments due on 12 April 2014)

• Olifants catchment
• Olifants (west), Marico, Mokolo and Matlabas catchment 
• Upper Vaal catchment 
• Middle Vaal catchment
• Lower Vaal catchment 
• Letaba catchment
• Olifants-Doorn catchment
• Proposed Classes And Quality Objectives Of Water Resources For The Olifants Catchment (20 July 2015) – part 1, part 2 & part 3 
• Letaba Catchment (22 January 2016)
• Inkomati Catchment (22 January 2016)
• Mvoti to Umzimkulu catchments (17 June 2016)

• Draft Regulations on Afforestation Genus Exchanges (23 October 2015)

• Draft revision of the pricing strategy for water use charges (13 November 2015)

• Proposed revision of general authorisation contained in GN R1199 dated 18 December 2009 in GG32805 (27 November 2015)

• Draft Regulations Relating to Access to and Use of Government Waterworks and Surrounding State-Owned Land for Recreational Purposes (30 October 2015)
• Draft Policy on Sustainable Hydropower Generation (15 July 2016) (see also the publication on 8 July 2016
• Notice relating to the proposed Mzimvubu Water Project (22 July 2016)
• Notice of intention to disestablish the Lebolelo Water User Association and to incorporate it under Lepelle Northern Water in terms of section 96(2) of the Act (28 October 2016)
• Proposed reserve determination for the Olifants-Doorn catchment (13 April 2017)