WCWaterSummit13Apr06

One doesn't really need to read between the lines to figure out what is happening...

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Stakeholders reach resolutions at Western Cape Water Summit

Media release by the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry

13 April 2006

 

Water Sector Stakeholders gathered on the second day of the Summit (12^th April 2006) for a way forward, devise an Action Plan and Adopt and Commit to Water Summit Resolutions.

 

Commission Groups (Water and Local Government, Water for Agriculture, and Water and the Environment) all had to report back to all Summit attendees on issues surfacing from each Commission Discussions, make Recommendations, suggest required Action Plans (within a particular timeframe) to combat the issue. 

 

Water and Local Government – Water Services Development Plans (WSDPs) once again surfaced as key tools for measuring each Water Services Authority (WSA) / Municipality should have for each demarcated area. WSDPs, thus serves as a key tool for measuring water supply and sanitation delivery - wether or not a Local Authority will meet the 2010 targets of providing all households with water and basic sanitation.

 

A task team (Water and Local Government) will draft a Provincial Stakeholder Water Services delivery will be formed, led by the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry.

 

The issue of funding water services projects was also raised and Partners (Development Bank of South Africa) urged Municipalities to draft clear and precise Business Plans, to access funding. This is only one of the funding solutions suggested at the Summit.  The task team will consolidate all the input and add to the Provincial Water Strategy. SALGA, a co-partner in hosting the Water Summit, will also form part of the task teams, to ensure that delivery materializes

 

In dealing with Water Resources, and particularly protecting these resources, such as rivers, streams, and others, partners agreed that existing programmes should all be co-ordinated, this includes the Provincial River Clean-Up Programme, the Local “Adopt a River Project” as well as the National River Health Programme.

 

The Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry, Ms Buyelwa Sonjica, and her Regional Director, Mr Rashid Khan, both re-iterated at the Summit, that the Department is eager to do more than just monitor and report on the state of the Rivers in the Western Cape.  The Task Team (Water and Environment), will draft a Plan, to urge Planners and Local Authorities to better plan for urbanisation and rapid development.   Compliance Monitoring (Enforcement) on all spheres of Governance (Local, Provincial and National) is also on the action plan.  Roles and responsibilities, including Financial Budgeting, were also discussed.

 

The need for a clear Provincial Policy for Development of Irrigated Agriculture, and the impact on land redistribution by 2014, were also discussed, and will be further investigated by the Water for Agriculture Task Team.  The issue of illegal water use, and the need for precise figures for the availability of water in each Catchment Management Area also came under serious scrutiny.  The National African Farmers Union, voice of Poor Resource Farmers in the Western Cape, will also form part of this Task Team.

 

 

For more information on the resolutions of the Summit, kindly contact:

 

Nandi Mgwadlamba

082. 909. 3493

 

Interviewee:

 

Rashid Khan

082. 809. 2218

 

 

Ends.

 

 

 

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