CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW
2.5 Water institutional arrangements in the study area
Tourism and recreation; and
Communities living around the area constituting mostly ordinary water users, and emerging farmers.
The main function of the CBRWUA is the general control of water supply and equitable sharing of water among all users. The current function is mainly based on supplying water to qualifying users and the collection of relevant revenue. The CBRWUA ensures that the water resource is well maintained and has a continuous water quality monitoring system installed which provides real time data to ensure water is supplied at the quality required for different uses (L. Bruwer personal communication, 28 June 2021). The CBRWUA supports local government, DWS and BGCMA in water related issues.
Several dams of various sizes are also used to store run-off from rainfall, of which 80% falls in the winter months (April to September), for summer crop irrigation and urban water supply. The rainfall is as high as 2 300 mm/a in the mountains to the south-west whilst the central and north- eastern areas receive as little as 250 mm/a (Murray, Biesenbach and Badenhorst Inc. 1989;
Steynor et al., 2009; WCG, 2011). The largest dam, the Greater Brandvlei Dam, is mainly used for irrigation purposes with four canal and five pumping schemes transferring water to commercial farms (DWAF, 2003a).
The Breede River catchment (excluding the Gouritz section of BGWMA) was divided into sub- management areas (Figure 2-3):
Upper Breede River section between Ceres and Worcester (H1) up to the inflow of the Brandvlei Dam (including the Holsloot, Smalblaar and Hex rivers (H2));
Middle Breede River section from the outflow of the Brandvlei Dam to Robertson and Swellendam (H3-5);
Lower Breede River section (from Swellendam to the estuary and outflow at Witsand) (H7);
Riviersonderend (H6) section; and
Overberg section (G4-5).
Systems Act (Act 32 of 2000) local municipalities are water services authorities (WSA). The responsibility of a WSA is to regulate the provision and ensure access to water services (water supply and sanitation). WSAs may provide these services themselves or contract an external entity (Water Services Providers (WSP) to provide these services on their behalf. The abstraction of water and discharge of waste water to the water resource by any WSA require licences from the DWA or CMAs (DWAF, 2013). Municipalities report to DCoG whereas the WUA and CMA report to DWS.
Figure 2-3: Sub-management areas of the BGWMA (modified from BGCMA, 2019).
There is, however, a disconnect between resource management and supply since water resources are managed at a local level by the CMAs, while water service provision occurs at municipal level (Ncube, 2018). This leads to complications when more water is allocated for supply purposes than is practical from an ecological standpoint.
Several stakeholders are involved in conservation in the study area (Table 2-1) and a number of stakeholders are involved in projects related to protection of threatened plant and fish species, removal of alien species and the evaluation of ecosystem services of wetlands (Papenkuils
wetland) have been listed (Jordaan et al., 2021; DEA&DP, 2021; J. van Biljon personal communication, 30 June 2021). However, these are only the most recent studies related to both water quality and quantity in the Breede River with many others conducted over the years not included in the current list.
Table 2-1: Water institutional arrangements in the BGCMA
Institution Nature of relationship
DWS National Office and Regional Office in an oversight capacity supporting BGCMA. Water quality monitoring.
Western Cape Provincial government
Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning (DEA&DP) Western Cape:
Implements initiatives which seek to address the challenge of water security and environmental sustainability in the Western Cape
Support and coordination, ensuring that other districts are not unfairly prioritized over that of the Breede development corridor
Research study coordination.
Western Cape Department of Agriculture’s LandCare:
Manages River Maintenance Management Plans (RMMPs) along the Breede River which include controlling invasive species to assist in flood and drought management.
District municipalities
The BGWMA straddles four district municipalities with the main part of the study area falling within the Cape Winelands District municipality.
The district municipalities only has a co-ordinating role for the local municipalities in its jurisdiction. The executive authority over the municipalities functions lie with the local municipalities rather than the district municipalities. The CWDM (Municipal Health Services) works with BGCMA in strategic planning, monitoring and improvement projects in the Breede River.
Local
Municipalities
The WMA straddles several local municipalities with the Breede Valley and Langeberg local municipalities covering the main part of the study area
Local government is responsible for water services provision and manages water in urban areas including supply and WWTW.
BGCMA Breede-Gouritz Catchment Management Agency (BGCMA), previously BOCMA, perform certain management functions, co-ordinate and seek agreement on water- related matters among various governmental and non-governmental stakeholders and interested parties.
WUA WUAs are co-operative associations of water users made up of previous irrigation boards, commercial and emerging farmers, municipalities and communities living around the area. WUA were established to undertake water-related activities for the mutual benefit of all its members and the equitable sharing of water to all users. WUAs are partners in a project for alien vegetation clearance
Cape Nature Cape Nature is a public entity that promotes and ensures biodiversity conservation in the Western Cape. Manages several nature reserves and contributes to the management of the Province’s natural water resources to ensure a sustainable and equitable supply of this precious resource to communities, industry and agriculture.
Environmental conservation organisations and NPO
Each of the stakeholders has a different reason for being involved in various areas in the catchment. Organisations identified include but are not limited to:
Intaba Environmental Services, Fynbos Forum, Grootvadersbosch Conservancy, World Wide Fund for Nature South Africa (WWF-SA), Living Lands, Land Life Company, Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS), Conservation Leadership Programme (Papenkuils wetland)
City of Cape Town
BGCMA supplies supplementary water to the City of Cape Town through inter-basin transfers.