Mpumalanga Biodiversity Conservation Plan Handbook - bgis-sanbi

MPUMALANGA BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION PLAN HANDBOOK
Aiv
PART 4: Part 4 of the Act lays down clear responsibilities regarding preventing and remedying the
KEY SECTIONS : Aquatic ecosystems
NATIONAL WATER ACT (36 OF 1998)
effect of pollution of water resources.
The Act also provides for an ecological reserve to be determined for every river in South
Africa, limiting the amount of water that can be abstracted from the river. The ecological
reserve is the portion of the river’s streamflow that needs to remain in the river to ensure
the sustainable healthy functioning of aquatic ecosystems. Only water over and above the
ecological reserve may be used.
The Act defines the ecological reserve as the quantity and quality of water required:
(a) to satisfy basic human needs by securing a basic water supply, as prescribed under
the Water Services Act (108 of 1997), for people who are or who will in the near
future, be:
(i) relying upon;
(ii) taking water from; or
(iii) being supplied from, the relevant water resource; and
(b) to protect aquatic ecosystems in order to secure ecologically sustainable
development and use of the relevant water resource.
DWAF may require that an environmental impact assessment (EIA) be undertaken in
support of a licence application. An EIA in terms of the National Water Act would entail
an assessment by a competent person of the likely environmental effects of the proposed
licence on the resource.
REGULATION 7: Use and protection of wetlands and watercourses
1. Wetlands and watercourses may not be used in any way that causes or may cause
deterioration of or damage to the natural agricultural resources of the site. This
includes all areas within the flood zone of a watercourse or within 10 meters hori
zontally outside the flood zone.
2. No land user shall drain or cultivate any wetland or area within the flood zone of
any watercourse (including its 10 metre buffer) except in terms of a written permit.
3. The above prohibitions do not apply to land that was already cultivated when these
regulations came into force, provided such land is already protected effectively
against excessive soil erosion.
REGULATION 8: Regulating the flow pattern of run-off water
1. No water from any watercourse may be diverted to any other watercourse without wrtten
permit.
No obstruction, dam nor any disturbance of the flow pattern of run-off water may be made on any
land, without: provision being made for the collection, passing through and flowing away of run-off
water, around or along the said obstruction, in a way that ensures it will not cause excessive soil
erosion or the deterioration of natural agricultural resources.
M P U M A L A N G A
Biodiversity
CONSERVATION PLAN HANDBOOK