Water Resource Situation, Strategies and Allocation Regimes in South Africa

Abstract

This chapter provides background to the state of water resources in South Africa and how those resources have been strategically developed and managed and the policy environment that guided their allocation and use pre- and post-1994. The topography and weather patterns strongly influence rainfall and evaporation, which result in highly varying rainfall patterns and even more erratic surface run-off. Requirements for water and the resultant needs for the development of the resource have also been strongly influenced by social, political and economic factors. The chapter gives a brief account of the water supply and management infrastructure that was developed. The current overall balance between available water and water requirements is also analysed as well as the challenges that water resource managers in South Africa are currently facing in a country that is rapidly approaching the limits of its available fresh water supplies.