{"query_echo":{"q":"","filters":{"geography":["Olifants Water Management Area"]},"warnings":[{"code":"facet_value_not_in_vocabulary","message":"Value 'Olifants Water Management Area' for facet 'geography' is not in the controlled vocabulary."}]},"total":{"value":2,"relation":"eq"},"page":1,"page_size":20,"self":"https://climateinsightsdirectory.org/api/v1/search?geography=Olifants+Water+Management+Area","stability":"beta","ai_marking":{"digital_source_type":{"uri":"http://cv.iptc.org/newscodes/digitalsourcetype/trainedAlgorithmicMedia","name":"Created using Generative AI"},"notice":"Summary and key insights are generated using artificial intelligence."},"results":[{"id":"cer-000474","url":"https://climateinsightsdirectory.org/document/cer-000474","title":"INDEPENDENT REVIEW OF DECISIONS BY THE DEPARTMENT OF WATER AND SANITATION TO ISSUE A WATER USE LICENSE TO KIPOWER (PTY) LTD, MPUMALANGA PROVINCE","publisher":{"name":"Centre for Environmental Rights","organization":"centre-for-environmental-rights"},"document_type":"report","language":"en","date_published":"2017-08-31","source_url":"https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Annexure-I-CBS-WUL-Review.pdf?x21779","generator":"Climate Insights Directory","generated_fields":["summary","key_insights","climate_tags","analysis_type"],"summary":{"text":"An independent review finds that the Water Use License issued to KiPower (Pty) Ltd by the South African Department of Water and Sanitation is legally and technically flawed. The review concludes that the DWS failed to correctly identify and authorise necessary water uses, provided incorrect property and location data, and included compliance specifications that are largely invalid or unmeasurable. Furthermore, the DWS is accused of ignoring critical resource quality objectives for the Wilge River and attempting to shift historic mining remediation liabilities to KiPower, rendering the decision to issue the license unreasonable and an error in law.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"cer-000474#summary","date_modified":"2026-08-17"},"key_insights":[{"text":"The Water Use License (WUL) issued to KiPower on 20 February 2017 is not an effective instrument for water governance because it fails to correctly authorise the necessary water uses and contains legally invalid compliance specifications.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"cer-000474#insight-1","date_modified":"2026-08-17"},{"text":"The WUL contains significant errors in the identification of water uses: 27% of listed activities are not water uses under section 21 of the NWA, and 42% are the responsibility of other entities (Delmas Coal or Ikhwezi Mining) rather than KiPower.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"cer-000474#insight-2","date_modified":"2026-08-17"},{"text":"There are nine specific water uses required for KiPower's activities that were not authorised in the WUL, including the storage of water in the ADF 'Clean water dam' and various discharges of 'clean water' into the Wilge River and surrounding veld.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"cer-000474#insight-3","date_modified":"2026-08-17"},{"text":"The WUL fails to properly describe the properties, locations, and metrics of the authorised water uses, rendering the authorisations legally and technically incorrect.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"cer-000474#insight-4","date_modified":"2026-08-17"},{"text":"A technical evaluation of the 204 identified compliance specifications found that only 33 (16%) are legal and valid under the NWA and PAJA, though these still relate to incorrectly authorised water uses.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"cer-000474#insight-5","date_modified":"2026-08-17"},{"text":"The DWS failed to consider critical factors required by section 27 of the NWA, including Resource Quality Objectives (RQOs) for the Wilge River and the effect of the water use on other users and water resources.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"cer-000474#insight-6","date_modified":"2026-08-17"},{"text":"The WUL's monitoring requirements are scientifically deficient, lacking limit values for comparison, omitting essential variables like Dissolved Oxygen for in-stream activities, and containing incorrect coordinates for monitoring locations.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"cer-000474#insight-7","date_modified":"2026-08-17"},{"text":"The DWS appears to have used the WUL to shift remediation liabilities for historic mining pollution from Delmas Coal and Ikhwezi Colliery to KiPower.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"cer-000474#insight-8","date_modified":"2026-08-17"},{"text":"The decision to issue the WUL was unreasonable and lacked a sufficient evidentiary basis, as the DWS requested critical information (such as a Water Management Plan) as a condition of the license rather than considering it before making the decision.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"cer-000474#insight-9","date_modified":"2026-08-17"},{"text":"The DWS failed to address the applicability of GN R.704 regulations regarding the protection of water resources from mining activities, and the WUL contains no reference to required exemptions.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"cer-000474#insight-10","date_modified":"2026-08-17"}],"climate_tags":["energy transition"],"geography_discussed":[],"frame_perspective":[],"analysis_type":["legislative review","technical review"]},{"id":"cer-000409","url":"https://climateinsightsdirectory.org/document/cer-000409","title":"Comments on the Integrated Water Use Licence Application Report for KiPower’s proposed construction of a 600 Megawatt (MW) Independent Power Producer Coal-fired Power Station","publisher":{"name":"Centre for Environmental Rights","organization":"centre-for-environmental-rights"},"document_type":"report","language":"en","date_published":"2014-09-02","source_url":"https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Annexure-B-CER-gW-KiPower-WULA-Objections.pdf?x21779","generator":"Climate Insights Directory","generated_fields":["summary","key_insights","climate_tags","analysis_type"],"summary":{"text":"This document consists of a formal submission by the Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) and an accompanying independent peer review by Carin Bosman Sustainable Solutions (CBSS). It critiques the Integrated Water Use Licence Application (IWULA) Report prepared by Jones and Wagner for KiPower's proposed 600 MW coal-fired power station in Mpumalanga, South Africa. The CER and CBSS conclude that the IWULA is 'Inadequate' due to significant procedural and substantive failures, including the absence of a practical Integrated Water and Waste Management Plan (IWWMP) Action Plan and a failure to adequately assess impacts on groundwater and other water users.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"cer-000409#summary","date_modified":"2026-08-17"},"key_insights":[{"text":"The IWULA Report is graded as 'Inadequate' because it fails to provide a complete baseline of information, lacks a description of the socio-economic environment, fails to determine the correct types of water use authorisations, and ignores public input when formulating water management objectives.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"cer-000409#insight-1","date_modified":"2026-08-17"},{"text":"A critical omission in the application is the absence of an Integrated Water and Waste Management Plan (IWWMP) Action Plan, which is a requirement for WULAs that impact water quality. The report merely states the plan will be included in the submission to the Department of Water Affairs, making it unavailable for public scrutiny.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"cer-000409#insight-2","date_modified":"2026-08-17"},{"text":"The IWULA fails to meet the substantive requirements of the National Water Act (NWA) and the guidelines prescribed by the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) regarding the prevention of water pollution and judicious water management.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"cer-000409#insight-3","date_modified":"2026-08-17"},{"text":"There are severe gaps in the biophysical baseline data, specifically regarding groundwater. The report lacks site-specific information on groundwater conditions, baseline pollution levels at the proposed Ash Disposal Facility (ADF) and Power Station sites, and the acid-generating potential of materials in existing pits.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"cer-000409#insight-4","date_modified":"2026-08-17"},{"text":"The application is legally flawed in its treatment of Existing Lawful Uses (ELUs) and General Authorisations (GAs). Because the project is on a brownfields site with existing infrastructure, the failure to address the current authorisation status and compliance of these facilities makes it impossible to determine if activities are authorised as ELUs.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"cer-000409#insight-5","date_modified":"2026-08-17"},{"text":"The IWULA is criticized for attempting to minimize or avoid public participation. While it describes the consultation process, it fails to record or extract specific concerns raised by interested and affected parties regarding impacts on water or other water users.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"cer-000409#insight-6","date_modified":"2026-08-17"},{"text":"The proposed water monitoring programme is deemed insufficient because it lacks coordinates for monitoring locations, specifies no methodologies for groundwater monitoring, and provides no programme for monitoring water quantity.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"cer-000409#insight-7","date_modified":"2026-08-17"},{"text":"The report contains technical deficiencies, including illegible water balance figures and a lack of specific discharge points or volumes for Section 21(f) water uses.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"cer-000409#insight-8","date_modified":"2026-08-17"},{"text":"The CER warns that the IWULA is susceptible to judicial review under the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act, 2000, and recommends that authorities reject the reports or refuse the applications until deficiencies are rectified.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"cer-000409#insight-9","date_modified":"2026-08-17"}],"climate_tags":["energy transition","coal-fired power","water governance","environmental impact assessment"],"geography_discussed":[],"frame_perspective":[],"analysis_type":["peer review","legal submission","environmental audit"]}]}