Borehole (Photo: Provided)
AfriForum says there is currently no reason to panic about the regulations for the protection and management of groundwater resources.
Water and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina presented the proposed regulations for public comment on December 10 in the Government Gazette published.
According to the document, the regulations will apply to all users of borehole water – new and existing users. This also includes people with rights of use, permits and water court orders for their water use.
The regulations require all borehole owners to register their boreholes and monitor their water use.
Borehole regulations already apply in many municipalities, with municipal bylaws already requiring the use, installation and monitoring of boreholes.
“For now, AfriForum is in favor of groundwater being managed sustainably and monitoring systems and regulatory oversight being improved, provided that this is legally and practically feasible,” says Marais de Vaal, AfriForum’s spokesperson for environmental affairs.
He says the civil rights organization is not opposed to the proposed regulations at this stage, as it is important that water sources and water consumption are monitored to ensure long-term stability.
According to De Vaal, the biggest change for ordinary borehole owners is that domestic users will have to register their boreholes and monitor their water consumption.
A borehole is sunk. (Photo: Provided by Saai)
“In densely populated areas, the regulations are good, because in this way it can be determined that water resources are not exhausted,” he says.
De Vaal believes that the poor management of many municipalities has led to more and more residents in towns and cities relying on boreholes.
“This is all well and good, but if an entire town’s residents start to sink boreholes without proper management and regulation, it can have a major impact on water tables,” he says.
He adds that the proposed regulations also require that the quality of borehole water be tested annually.
“It really goes without saying that borehole owners should carry out such tests to make sure the water quality is safe,” says De Vaal.
According to him, commercial use of borehole water has been registered and monitored for a long time, especially in the agricultural sector where farmers are already obliged to report their water use.
“It is required that commercial water use must be licensed and because of that, registration and monitoring requirements already exist,” says De Vaal.