While some experts have welcomed proposals to monitor and regulate borehole drilling and groundwater extraction by the department of water and sanitation, others have said they are ill-thought out and could be damaging to the economy.
John Weaver, a consulting hydrogeologist with some 50 years of experience, who is also chair of South African National Bottled Water Association (Sanbwa), said the “rather ridiculous” proposals had elicited “an enormous negative response” from the experts.
Regulations could threaten jobs
Weaver said, in his personal capacity, he had submitted a rebuttal regarding one specific point.
“This point says no borehole will be allowed within 500 metres of a ‘critical vegetation biome’ as declared by Sanbi [SA National Biodiversity Institute]. I have cited over 100 boreholes in the Western Cape that would fall,” he said.
“These boreholes are mainly for water supply to export fruit orchards and vineyards. The orchards are usually located on shales of the Bokkeveld formation and the boreholes are located close to or in the more rugged terrain of the Table Mountain sandstones, and thus in Fynbos Biome.
“Closing these boreholes and many hundreds of other similar boreholes previously approved by department effectively means 300 000 to 500 000 people losing their jobs.”
Weaver added: “This small section within the proposed legislation has been written by someone with their heads in the clouds and without practical experience.”
He also addressed the issue of where extraction by suburban borehole owners would impact aquifers: “A borehole within the suburban environment used for garden watering uses very little water. To require such a borehole to be pump-tested is a ridiculous waste of money and is further demonstration of the impracticality and ridiculousness of this proposed legislation.”
Industry leaders call for practical implementation
Sanbwa CEO Charlotte Metcalf added: “SA groundwater is a precious resource and should be protected and monitored – which is already the case with commercial use. Sanbwa members adhere to all legislation required for the protection and sustainability of groundwater sources.”
The Groundwater Division of South Africa chair Roger Diamond has welcomed the attempt to regulate groundwater usage.
“With the country’s water resources mostly fully allocated and even oversubscribed, good regulation can provide useful data, create awareness of water shortages and give an incentive for responsible use,” he said.
“However, regulation in South Africa needs to be mindful of several issues.”
Diamond added there was a tremendous inequality in the country, where some people have access to water in many ways and have ample ability to monitor, measure and adapt, whereas other people rely solely on one resource and have no alternatives should it fail.
He noted the extreme lack of law enforcement in most areas, but particularly of environmental legislation, and added that regulations need to be drafted with these realities in mind.
Water security concerns fuel debate
WaterCAN water expert Ferrial Adam said better regulation and data collection should be seen as an effort to improve accountability, protect people from poor practices and prevent environmental harm – not as an attack on homeowners.
“WaterCAN recognises that many households, businesses and communities have turned to boreholes because of ongoing water supply failures and we are not opposed to the responsible use of groundwater,” she said.
“However, groundwater is a shared and finite public resource that must be properly managed to protect long-term water security for everyone.”
Farmer organisation TLU SA’s Bennie van Zyl said the government has made itself the custodian of water and therefore imposed a certain responsibility on itself, but isn’t fulfilling it.
Fear of growing bureaucratic burden
Van Zyl said it makes people uncomfortable when the state said they are taking everything under control, because they do not always get it right and then, at the end of the day, they cause a very big dilemma for the systems.
“If we watch how municipalities allow raw sewage into water sources, as in Rooiwal, the underground water becomes so polluted that it can no longer be used for humans or animals, or for food production,” he said.
Southern African Agri Initiative CEO Francois Rossouw said it supports the responsible protection of groundwater, but added these proposed regulations were overbroad, impractical and likely to punish compliant farmers, while doing very little to stop real abuse.
“The concern is that this turns ordinary farm boreholes into another bureaucratic compliance minefield,” Rossouw said.
“Farmers may now face compulsory registration, pump settings, yield tests, metering devices, annual reporting, water quality testing, municipal abstraction limits, departmental access for audits and criminal penalties for non-compliance.”
Rossouw said groundwater must be protected, but food producers cannot be buried under vague, costly and centralised red tape.
