One of the early set of reforms that South Africa embarked on after emerging from apartheid was in the water sector, following a remarkable, consultative process. The policy and legal reforms were comprehensive and covered almost all aspects of water management including revolutionary changes in defining and allocating rights to water, radical reforms in water management and supply institutions, the introduction of the protection of environmental flows, and major shifts in charging for water use and in the provision of free basic water. Over ten years of implementation of these policy and legislative changes mean that valu­able lessons have already been learned and useful experiences gained in the challenge of effective water resources management and water services provision in a middle income country.

The study is reported in two Working Papers. Working Paper 17 reports the findings of the HIM exercise. This paper contains the policies, legislation and organizations relevant for understanding of the HIM for the Olifants river basin. It also includes the historical development of the institutional framework in the basin, as this history has left a profound imprint on the South African society at large and is still dictating, in many cases, the interactions between the different organizations. This background on previous and current institutions and policies at the different government levels is used to shed light on the current relationships between different organizations in the basin. Although focusing on the Olifants, the description provided is applicable to the rest of South Africa in broad terms.

Water resource management throughout the world is a very complicated issue, involving various aspects and dimensions and a well-coordinated set of policies. A well-designed water policy is a multi-faceted concerted intervention, which could be specific to just one set of political and physical socio-economic conditions. A framework to analyse the interaction between policy design and implementation can assist in improving both of these in various physical, economic and political situations. This book focuses on the interaction between policy making and strategic behaviour of policy makers, water users and other stakeholders, and how policy analysis and other analytical tools from the field of game theory and negotiation can improve policy design. The book presents analysis by high-level policy makers and policy analysts from various countries, to share experience regarding specific policy issues that are relevant to almost any country in the world, but may have been addressed differently in each country.

Effective water governance capacity is the foundation of efficient management of water resources. Water governance reform processes must work towards building capacity in a cohesive and articulated approach that links national policies, laws and institutions, within an enabling environment that allows for their implementation. This guide shows how national water reform processes can deliver good water governance, by focussing on the principles and practice of reform. RULE guides managers and decision makers on a journey which provides an overview of what makes good law, policy and institutions, and the steps needed to build a coherent and fully operational water governance structure.

The first book to engage in a comprehensive examination of the human right to water in theory and in practice.

Employing an international and comparative analysis of international law as well as the domestic legal regimes of selected jurisdictions, i.e., China, South Africa and South Australia, Water Rights - An International and Comparative Study identifies the essential elements a well-structured water rights system, which ensures that the multiple functions of water resources are reasonably balanced, and the competing water needs are properly taken into consideration, and under which the economic, social and environmental values of water resources co-exist equitably in harmony. This book is the first to discuss water rights holistically, i.e., putting the three aspects of water rights (the property right of water resources, the human right to water and the environmental right to water) into a single, well-organised water rights system under the principle of sustainable development. Following the Introduction, Water Rights has six chapters. Chapter Two develops an analytical approach to be applied in the following four chapters. After the problems concerning water rights in China are identified, the three aspects of water rights both in international law and domestic water laws of South Africa and South Australia are discussed. In Chapter Six, principles and structure that should be employed for designing an ideal water rights system or improving and perfecting an existing one are recommended. With these recommendations, the definitions of water resources and the three aspects of water rights are analysed. Specific amendments to the China Water Law 2002 are proposed. Finally, this work concludes with explanations of the basis for the recommendations presented. This book will be a valuable reference for all those concerned with water rights, including lawyers, hydrologists and water resources managers.