ACTION RESEARCH FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NEGOTIATION SUPPORT TOOL TOWARDS DECENTRALISED WATER MANAGEMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA

In 1998 the South African government adopted water legislation that provides a new constitutional framework for water management. Economic efficiency, social equity, and environmental sustainability are the guiding criteria of the new South African water policy. Water management will be implemented through decentralized institutions (Catchment Management Agencies and Committees, Water Users Associations). These institutions will be in charge of local negotiations and the decision-making processes regarding resource allocation among stakeholders. The new water management institutions have the complex context characterized by inequalities, lack or asymmetry of information, and conflicting interests. Hence, a clear need for negotiation and decision support tools for these institutions is perceived. An action research project was initiated at the University of Pretoria in 2001. It has the main objective of supporting the sustainable establishment of decentralized water management institutions as negotiation and decision-making entities on water resource management at basin level. This paper describes and discusses the participatory approach, aimed at developing a negotiation support tool called Action-research and Watershed Analyses for Resource and Economic sustainability (AWARE). More precisely, the phases of development of the model in close collaboration with DWAF officers are analysed. The choice of involving different stakeholders at different stages of the process, and its possible consequences on the nature of the tool is discussed.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Inter-sectoral Competition for Water Allocation in Rural South Africa : Analysing a Case Study Through a Standard Environmental Economics Approach

South Africa has adopted an ambitious new water legislation that promotes equity, sustainability, representativity and economic performance through water management decentralization, new local and regional management institutions, water users' licensing, and the possible emergence of water rights' markets. This paper addresses the diversity of water users and uses that currently exists in rural areas, and especially focuses on the competition for water that may result from such a diversity in a context of water scarcity, and from the diversity of objectives formulated by the public authorities. The paper first briefly describes the current institutional arrangements regarding access to water. It also presents the situation in rural areas where farming communities and the mining sector are interacting on water- and labour-related matters. The paper then presents a case study whereby these two sectors have embarked into a negotiation process on water rights transfer, under the auspices of several public role players. It proposes an analysis of the case study through a standard environmental economics model. The model considers the marginal net private benefit (MNPB) generated by mining activities and the associated marginal returns to water (MRW). The transfer of water from farmers to mines results in a loss in crop production potential by the fanners and the subsequent loss of income and potential for development. Such a loss can be considered the opportunity cost of water for smallholders. If not compensated, it represents a proxy of the externality associated with the water transfer. The model first highlights the difference in terms of water productivity in the two sectors, and its consequences if a system of transferable licenses is adopted. Then, some policy options (taxes, standards, subsidies) are tested and discussed. (Résumé d'auteur

INTER-SECTORAL COMPETITION FOR WATER ALLOCATION IN RURAL SOUTH AFRICA: ANALYSING A CASE STUDY THROUGH A STANDARD ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICS APPROACH

South Africa has adopted an ambitious new water legislation that promotes equity, sustainability, representativity and economic performance through water management decentralization, new local and regional management institutions, water users' licensing, and the possible emergence of water rights' markets. This paper addresses the diversity of water users and uses that currently exists in rural areas, and especially focuses on the competition for water that may result from such a diversity in a context of water scarcity, and from the diversity of objectives formulated by the public authorities. The paper first briefly describes the current institutional arrangements regarding access to water. It also presents the situation in rural areas where farming communities and the mining sector are interacting on water- and labour-related matters. The paper then presents a case study whereby these two sectors have embarked into a negotiation process on water rights transfer, under the auspices of several public role players. It proposes an analysis of the case study through a standard environmental economics model. The model considers the marginal net private benefit (MNPB) generated by mining activities and the associated marginal returns to water (MRW). The transfer of water from farmers to mines results in a loss in crop production potential by the farmers and the subsequent loss of income and potential for development. Such a loss can be considered the opportunity cost of water for smallholders. If not compensated, it represents a proxy of the externality associated with water transfer. The model first highlights the difference in terms of water productivity in the two sectors, and its consequences if a system of transferable licenses is adopted. Then, some policy options (taxes, standards, subsidies) are tested and discussed.Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,