The 'Trickle Down' of IWRM: a case study of local-level realities in the Inkomati Water Management Area, South Africa

The historical legacy in South Africa of apartheid and the resulting discriminatory policies and power imbalances are critical to understanding how water is managed and allocated, and how people participate in designated water governance structures. The progressive post-apartheid National Water Act...

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Autores principales: Denby, K., Movik, S., Mehta, L., van Koppen, Barbara
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: 2016
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/78534
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author Denby, K.
Movik, S.
Mehta, L.
van Koppen, Barbara
author_browse Denby, K.
Mehta, L.
Movik, S.
van Koppen, Barbara
author_facet Denby, K.
Movik, S.
Mehta, L.
van Koppen, Barbara
author_sort Denby, K.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description The historical legacy in South Africa of apartheid and the resulting discriminatory policies and power imbalances are critical to understanding how water is managed and allocated, and how people participate in designated water governance structures. The progressive post-apartheid National Water Act (NWA) is the principal legal instrument related to water governance which has broadly embraced the principles of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM). This translation of IWRM into the South African context and, in particular, the integration of institutions related to land and water have faced many challenges due to the political nature of water and land reforms, and the tendency of governmental departments to work in silos. The paper explores the dynamics surrounding the implementation of IWRM in the Inkomati Water Management Area, and the degree of integration between the parallel land and water reform processes. It also looks at what these reforms mean to black farmers’ access to water for their sugar cane crops at the regional (basin) and local levels. The empirical material highlights the discrepancies between a progressive IWRM-influenced policy on paper and the actual realities on the ground. The paper argues that the decentralisation and integration aspects of IWRM in South Africa have somewhat failed to take off in the country and what 'integrated' actually entails is unclear. Furthermore, efforts to implement the NWA and IWRM in South Africa have been fraught with challenges in practice, because the progressive policy did not fully recognise the complex historical context, and the underlying inequalities in knowledge, power and resource access.
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spelling CGSpace785342024-03-22T10:24:39Z The 'Trickle Down' of IWRM: a case study of local-level realities in the Inkomati Water Management Area, South Africa Denby, K. Movik, S. Mehta, L. van Koppen, Barbara integrated management water resources water management water allocation water governance water availability legal aspects water law land reform farmers decentralization equity catchment areas rivers agriculture case studies The historical legacy in South Africa of apartheid and the resulting discriminatory policies and power imbalances are critical to understanding how water is managed and allocated, and how people participate in designated water governance structures. The progressive post-apartheid National Water Act (NWA) is the principal legal instrument related to water governance which has broadly embraced the principles of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM). This translation of IWRM into the South African context and, in particular, the integration of institutions related to land and water have faced many challenges due to the political nature of water and land reforms, and the tendency of governmental departments to work in silos. The paper explores the dynamics surrounding the implementation of IWRM in the Inkomati Water Management Area, and the degree of integration between the parallel land and water reform processes. It also looks at what these reforms mean to black farmers’ access to water for their sugar cane crops at the regional (basin) and local levels. The empirical material highlights the discrepancies between a progressive IWRM-influenced policy on paper and the actual realities on the ground. The paper argues that the decentralisation and integration aspects of IWRM in South Africa have somewhat failed to take off in the country and what 'integrated' actually entails is unclear. Furthermore, efforts to implement the NWA and IWRM in South Africa have been fraught with challenges in practice, because the progressive policy did not fully recognise the complex historical context, and the underlying inequalities in knowledge, power and resource access. 2016 2016-12-28T09:15:09Z 2016-12-28T09:15:09Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/78534 en Open Access Denby, K.; Movik, S.; Mehta, L.; van Koppen, Barbara. 2016. The 'Trickle Down' of IWRM: a case study of local-level realities in the Inkomati Water Management Area, South Africa. Water Alternatives, 9(3):473-492.
spellingShingle integrated management
water resources
water management
water allocation
water governance
water availability
legal aspects
water law
land reform
farmers
decentralization
equity
catchment areas
rivers
agriculture
case studies
Denby, K.
Movik, S.
Mehta, L.
van Koppen, Barbara
The 'Trickle Down' of IWRM: a case study of local-level realities in the Inkomati Water Management Area, South Africa
title The 'Trickle Down' of IWRM: a case study of local-level realities in the Inkomati Water Management Area, South Africa
title_full The 'Trickle Down' of IWRM: a case study of local-level realities in the Inkomati Water Management Area, South Africa
title_fullStr The 'Trickle Down' of IWRM: a case study of local-level realities in the Inkomati Water Management Area, South Africa
title_full_unstemmed The 'Trickle Down' of IWRM: a case study of local-level realities in the Inkomati Water Management Area, South Africa
title_short The 'Trickle Down' of IWRM: a case study of local-level realities in the Inkomati Water Management Area, South Africa
title_sort trickle down of iwrm a case study of local level realities in the inkomati water management area south africa
topic integrated management
water resources
water management
water allocation
water governance
water availability
legal aspects
water law
land reform
farmers
decentralization
equity
catchment areas
rivers
agriculture
case studies
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/78534
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