DEPARTMENT OF WATER AFFAIRS AND FORESTRY
OLIFANTS RIVER
WATER RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT PROJECT
Options to make more water available for
social and economic development in the
Olifants and Mogalakwena/Sand Catchments
COMMENT INVITED
Hierdie dokument is ook in Afrikaans beskikbaar
Sengwalwa se se hwetšagala le ka Seisemane le Sepedi
February 2004
In order to meet the social and economic development needs
of the region, the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry is
currently assessing the feasibility of various water resource
development options in the Olifants and Mogalakwena/Sand
Catchments of the Limpopo and Mpumalanga Provinces (see
enclosed map).
The project is driven by the social and economic
circumstances of these areas, the urgent need for socioeconomic upliftment and development, and planned mining
expansion, including smaller-scale mining as far south as
Groblersdal.
The Department of Water Affairs and Forestry has made
considerable progress with a process to supply water to these
catchments. As a first phase, construction will soon begin on
raising the wall of the Flag Boshielo Dam on the Olifants River
near Marble Hall by 5 metres to increase the water yield of the
dam.
In addition, the Department has investigated a large number
of options and combinations of options to make more water
available in a phased manner in the short, medium and long term.
Comment invited on screening of options
There will be several opportunities during the course of the
year for stakeholders to contribute to the Environmental Impact
Assessment.
Meanwhile, the Department would like to invite your
comment and input on the various options that are being
assessed now (see more on pages 2 - 4).
These comments will assist the Department to make
recommendations on the most feasible options to be taken
forward into the detailed planning and implementation process.
Please rest assured that any comments that you
provided during previous processes, such as the National
Water Resource Strategy Process (NWRS) in 2002 and earlier
during the process to establish a Catchment Management
Agency, will also be taken into consideration.
Please use the enclosed registration and comment
sheet, or e-mail or call the Public Participation Office with your
comments, by Monday 15 March 2004.
The Department is currently assessing various water
resource development options for technical, financial,
environmental and social feasibility. Options that are obviously
Public participation office – contact any of:
not feasible will not be studied further, while implementation of
the most suitable options will need to be fast-tracked to meet the
rapidly increasing demands.
An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of the feasible
options, including a socio-economic impact assessment and
consultation with stakeholders, will start in April 2004.
Authorisations will need to be obtained for the proposed project
under the relevant environmental legislation.
Motivation for the
project
The Olifants and Mogalakwena/Sand
Catchments include some of the
poorest areas in South Africa.
Unemployment is high. Many
people rely on income from family
members working in the cities.
Many communities struggle to find
water for domestic use. Development
opportunities in the area have been few,
hampered inter alia by a lack of water.
The area, which is part of the
Bushveld Igneous Complex, is extremely
rich in mineral resources. With the steep
rise in the world demand for platinum and
other precious metals, and with the
government’s pressure on mines to use
their mineral rights, several new mines in
the area have been established or are
being planned. This will bring much
needed economic development to the
region, but will also give rise to an
increased demand for water.
Solly Manyaka, Anelle Odendaal, Qondile Sibiya,
Herbert Modupi or Vanessa Viljoen.
Feel free to use the language of your choice.
Zitholele Consulting / Golder Associates Africa
P O Box 95823, Waterkloof, 0145, Pretoria
Telephone 012 – 361 0082 Fax 012 – 361 0083
e-mail: qsibiya@golder.co.za
The mining sector has already spent
more than R200 million on building the
Lebalelo water pipeline from the Olifants
River to the Steelpoort area to supply
water for mining. This pipeline can also
make water available to local
municipalities to supply 86 communities.
The mining sector has also
undertaken to contribute R264 million to
raise the Flag Boshielo Dam wall by
5 metres.
However, studies show that the
demand for water in these catchments
will, in the near future, still be much
higher than the water available from
current resources.
More water would enable
considerable mining expansion. This
could bring about local employment,
much needed economic growth and
other benefits. It would also create the
opportunity for water services providers,
such as municipalities, to supply
domestic water to communities.
Thus, the need to make more water
available in these catchments is not only
clear, but urgent. It is likely that
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construction on at least some new
infrastructure will have to start in late
2005, should the EIA for the project be
approved.
Assessment of options
Building dams is only one way of
making more water available. There
are several other options.
Whatever options are selected,
however, they will cost a great deal of
money.
Therefore, the Department of Water
Affairs and Forestry has to ensure that
the most feasible options are selected.
The most feasible options are those that
are technically possible, will deliver the
most water for the least cost, and will
keep environmental and social impacts to
a minimum.
The Department is thus currently
assessing various water resource
development options for technical,
financial, environmental and social
feasibility, as shown in Figure 1.
Technical feasibility
These assessments investigate
engineering solutions and technologies
to make more water available.
For example, would there be
sufficient groundwater to supply some
areas? Can water be used more
efficiently? Are there suitable sites to
store water in dams? Is it possible to
transfer more water from elsewhere into
these catchments?
Financial feasibility
These studies consider the capital and
operating costs of infrastructure such as
dams, pipelines, water transfer schemes,
groundwater pumping, the costs of
mitigation measures to pro-actively
protect the environment.
ASSESSMENT OF
OPTIONS
TECHNICAL
FINANCIAL
ENVIRONMENTAL/
SOCIAL
Figure 1. All water resource
development options are being
assessed for technical, financial,
environmental and social feasibility.
Environmental and social
feasibility
The National Water Act, the Environment
Conservation Act and the National
Environmental Management Act require
an EIA to show whether any options that
remain after screening will be
environmentally and socially feasible.
The findings of the EIA will also inform
the technical and financial studies.
Specific socio-economic studies will
be done on the options that are taken
forward. Other studies will cover potential
impacts to surface water supply to the
downstream Kruger Park and Massingir
Dam in Mozambique. Potential impacts
to water quality, land, soil, fauna and
flora and specifically to the Reserve (the
amount of water set aside in the National
Water Act for basic human needs and
ecological needs) will also be studied.
Since the project is led by a
national government Department (Water
Affairs and Forestry), spans two
provinces, and is deemed to be in the
national interest, the national Department
of Environmental Affairs and Tourism will
be the decision-making authority on the
EIA. The EIA will start in April 2004.
There will be several further
opportunities for stakeholders to
contribute to the EIA during the
coming year.
MAKING MORE WATER AVAILABLE –
WHAT OPTIONS ARE THERE?
Approach to options
analysis
Options available for
the Olifants Catchment
Considerable planning to screen
options out and to find the most
feasible options has already been
done. Planning makes use of the
findings of numerous previous
studies and current work.
For example, stakeholders will
recall the figures that were presented
during the public consultation meetings
for the proposed National Water
Resource Strategy (NWRS) in 2002.
These figures showed a clear water
deficit, and these are currently being
firmed up.
Planning for the project follows a
five-step approach:
The Olifants Catchment and the
project area are indicated on the
enclosed map.
The catchment falls within Water
Management Area (WMA) 4 of the 19
WMAs into which the country is divided.
The largest water users in this area
are irrigation agriculture, the mines and
domestic users.
1. Identifying water requirements
Studies are already determining how
much water people and developments
in the catchments need both now and
in the future. This includes the needs
of domestic users, agriculture, mining
and industry, and others. Irrigation is
currently the single largest user, but
water supply from the new
developments are likely to be too
expensive for use by irrigators.
Although groundwater is available
in some areas, its natural quality is not
always good enough for domestic use.
For example, high nitrate levels occur
in boreholes north of Steelpoort. Such
groundwater can be used by mines but
not directly for domestic water supply.
2. Identifying available resources
The studies will determine how much
water is available in these catchments
now, and from what sources.
3. Comparing requirements with
availability (water balance)
The studies will compare the available
water with how much water is, and will
be, needed in the future.
4. Identifying and assessing options
Options include water conservation
and demand management, possible
dam and pipeline developments,
availability of groundwater, reallocation of water from other uses, reuse, and transfer of water from other
catchments. The costs and benefits of
the different options and combinations
of options are also being determined.
5. Recommending feasible options
Lastly, once the above information is
available, a combination of the most
feasible options for each of the Olifants
and Mogalakwena/Sand catchments
will be taken forward into the detailed
planning and implementation process.
A list of questions to help
guide your comment is
provided on the enclosed
comment sheet.
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Available resources
The available volume of surface water in
rivers and in the Flag Boshielo Dam, and
the volume of groundwater, are being
investigated.
Development options
The wall of the Flag Boshielo Dam will be
raised by 5 metres, and construction will
start soon.
This will enable water entitlements,
currently leased by the Lebalelo Water
User Association in the Steelpoort area
for mining ventures, to be returned to
small farmers on the irrigation schemes
downstream of the Flag Boshielo Dam.
The following additional options and
their costs and benefits are being
investigated:

A possible new dam at Rooipoort on
the Olifants River

A possible new dam at De Hoop on
the Steelpoort River

Groundwater supply.
The best option will be chosen after an
assessment of the options.
Water transfers
South Africa has the largest number of
water transfer schemes in the world.
Water is transferred from areas of
surplus to areas of scarcity.
Water is already being transferred
out of the Olifants catchment to the city
of Polokwane, which is located in the
Sand catchment.
However, water is already being
transferred from the Komati, Usutu and
Vaal Rivers into the southern parts of
the Olifants catchment.
Water transfer schemes are
very expensive. Nevertheless,
investigations are underway to
investigate further water transfers from
the Vaal River System to the Witbank
and Middelburg areas. These transfers
could possibly be extended into parts of
the project area.
Other options
Another option to make more water
available is to use water trading to reallocate water from other uses. Although
the National Water Act provides for this,
stakeholders are concerned that potential
social and economic impacts may not
make this option feasible unless very
carefully managed.
Re-use of effluent from
Lebowakgomo is another possibility. This
would require the effluent to be treated
and piped to areas where the water is
needed. This option is technically
feasible and, although expensive
compared with the volume of water it can
make available, the water would be
suitable for mining that does not require
high quality standards.
Many water users in these
catchments have suggested water
conservation and demand management
as an option, saying that money should
not be spent on new infrastructure if
existing water users could use water
more efficiently.
Initial calculations show that water
can be used more efficiently in the
catchment. Although the additional water
that will become available in this way will
be small as compared with what will be
needed in the future, it could make an
important contribution.
Bulk distribution systems
As part of the project, bulk water
supply pipelines for both raw and
potable water will be built in areas
that are currently poorly serviced and
where growth in water needs are
expected.
The capacity and condition of
existing bulk distribution systems,
and the size of planned and new bulk
distribution systems, will be
determined and matched to the
potential options for dam or
groundwater development, along
with potential for access to land and
obtaining servitudes.
It is interesting to note that the
largest proportion of the costs of the
project would be for the bulk
distribution systems, due to the large
area that has to be covered.
OPTIONS AVAILABLE FOR THE
MOGALAKWENA / SAND CATCHMENT
The Mogalakwena and Sand
Catchments are indicated on the
enclosed map. They fall within Water
Management Area (WMA) 1 of the
19 WMAs into which the country is
divided.
The largest water users in this
area are again irrigation agriculture,
the mines and domestic users.
Available resources
There are few surface water resources
in this area, as there are no large rivers
and only the Doorndraai Dam, whose
water is already fully allocated to
existing users.
However, groundwater is
available in parts of these catchments.
Stakeholders have suggested that
serious consideration be given to
further development of groundwater
resources, especially for local
communities.
Development options
A number of development options are
available to these catchments.
Apart from groundwater, the
possibility of dams on the Lephalala
River and at Groenvlei have been
investigated in the past. Although
these investigations were not very
promising at the time, they are being
re-investigated now.
Water transfers
As mentioned before, water is already
being transferred to Polokwane in the
Sand catchment from the Olifants
Catchment and also from the Letaba
Catchment.
Should any of the dam options in
the Olifants catchment be feasible, it
may be possible to transfer further
water from the Olifants to the
Mogalakwena/Sand catchments.
Internal water transfers within
these catchments are also options, for
example, from the Doorndraai Dam
(although this would mean having to
find other water for existing users of
water from this dam).
In addition, effluent from
Polokwane could be re-used by mining
near Makopane.
Should a dam at Lephalala be
found to be feasible, a further option
would be to transfer water from this
dam to areas where water is needed.
This, however, would require further
extensive investigation.
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Other options
As with options for the Olifants
Catchment, there is an option to reallocate water from other uses through
water trading.
This would mean that existing
water users would be able to “sell” their
water entitlements to other users.
Stakeholders have indicated that
this is not as simple a solution as it
seems. What, for example, will happen
to farm workers if farmers sell their
water to other users?
The re-use of effluent is also
being investigated for this area, looking
at how much effluent is available and
from where. Re-using effluent means,
however, that less water finds its way
back to the rivers or groundwater. The
impacts of this need to be carefully
determined before this option can be
selected. On the other hand, re-using
effluent not only solves potential water
quality problems but also puts the
water to high-value use.
Users in these catchments have
again suggested water conservation
and demand management as an
option. The study team is currently
calculating how much water could be
saved in this way, and the contribution
this would make to the water needs of
other users.
Meeting the requirements
of the Reserve
In accordance with the National
Water Act, the Reserve is that
portion of water required to meet
basic human needs, and the
needs of the aquatic ecosystem.
The requirements of the Reserve are
being worked out for all potential
options in all areas.
Compulsory licensing, particularly to
meet the requirements of the
Reserve, will also be considered,
along with the practicalities of
implementing it. Compulsory
licensing involves a process of
determining how much water the
Reserve requires, and then reducing
existing water allocations to meet the
needs of the Reserve.
CREATING AN ENABLING ENVIRONMENT FOR THE PROJECT
Regional economics
A project of this nature requires considerable planning
and integration of the findings of studies.
It also requires ongoing liaison with stakeholders,
cooperative governance to involve the full range of
government departments, international liaison with South
Africa’s neighbouring States, and putting in place the
institutions that will have to manage the project during its
construction, commissioning and operation.
A regional economic assessment will start shortly to quantify
the potential economic impacts of the project on a regional
scale. The assessment will consider, for example, household
income, development opportunities, employment creation
and other economic spin-offs.
Financing and ownership
Institutional arrangements
The options to fund, implement and operate the project are
also being investigated. Funds could come from a variety of
sources, potentially including the private sector.
Whatever the sources of funding, the project is
considered to be national water resource infrastructure that
will serve different users in different catchments. Ownership
will therefore remain with the State.
The best institutional arrangements to manage the project, or
to manage components of it, need to be determined. Again,
various models are available.
A high-level Project Strategy Committee between the
Department of Water Affairs and Forestry and the Limpopo
and Mpumalanga Provincial Governments has already been
established to steer project implementation.
Institutions to help run the project during its operation
could include, for example, Water Boards or Water User
Associations. Such bodies could be responsible for the
operation of different schemes.
In addition, water resource management is another
required function. The National Water Act provides for
Catchment Management Agencies (CMA) to be established
in each Water Management Area (WMA) to fulfil the water
resource management function.
A proposal for CMA establishment in the Olifants WMA
has been drafted with stakeholder participation. Until a CMA
is established, the Department remains responsible for water
resource management in that WMA.
All these and other possible options are currently being
investigated, and stakeholder comment on these is being
sought.
Capacity for community water supply
Although this project will not be directly responsible for
community water supply, it will make water for community
water supply available to local water services providers, such
as municipalities. For this purpose, off-takes will be provided
from the bulk distribution system or water will be delivered
into reservoirs at agreed locations.
Environmental and other authorisations
Before a project such as this can be implemented, a range of
environmental and other authorisations need to be obtained,
and the necessary studies done to determine the potential
negative and positive impacts.
These studies will also recommend ways to enhance
positive impacts, and to reduce or avoid negative impacts.
For these reasons, an Environmental Impact
Assessment and other investigations will start in April 2004,
with full stakeholder consultation, to satisfy the requirements
of relevant legislation.
Honouring international agreements
The Olifants River is part of the international Limpopo River
System shared by South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe and
Mozambique.
South Africa is currently formally consulting with its
neighbours about the proposed project.
Stakeholder engagement
Cooperative governance
Many consultation processes on water resource
development and management have taken place in the
project area in the past.
In many parts of the catchments, stakeholders have
established consultation structures, development
associations, water forums and associations, and have
contributed substantially to current planning.
Consultation with stakeholders will continue throughout
project planning, and in particular from April 2004 when the
Environmental Impact Assessment for the water resource
development options will start.
At the same time, consultation will take place around
the various other authorisations that need to be obtained in
terms of relevant legislation.
Making additional water available in the Olifants and
Mogalakwena / Sand catchments is likely to give rise to
many development opportunities, changes in socio-economic
circumstances, changes in land use and other effects.
Numerous other government authorities thus need to be
consulted and involved, in order to accommodate these
developments in their future planning and activities. This
includes the local authorities in their integrated development
plans (IDPs).
Together with the Department of Water Affairs and
Forestry, they will assist in ensuring that, in the longer term,
all the projects and developments coming out of this initiative
are sustainable, and that as many people as possible benefit
from the work that is done and the investigations that are
made.
Your participation in this project is encouraged, and will enrich decision-making.
Please provide your initial comments by Monday 15 March 2004.
Note also that, as more information becomes available,
it will be posted on the Department’s Web Site: www.dwaf.gov.za
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