Strategic Water Source Areas: Management Framework and Implementation Guidelines for Planners and Managers

This report provides a management framework for South Africa's Strategic Water Source Areas (SWSAs), which produce over 50% of the region's mean annual runoff from 10% of the land. It details the economic importance of SWSAs, their role in supporting millions of people and the national economy, and provides specific implementation guidelines for the forestry, agriculture, and mining sectors to mitigate impacts on water quality and quantity. It advocates for the integration of SWSA maps into strategic spatial planning and the expansion of protected areas.

• Strategic Water Source Areas (SWSAs) are critical for South Africa's water and food security, with surface water SWSAs producing over 50% of the mean annual runoff from only 10% of the land area.
• SWSAs provide substantial economic and social support: more than 50% of the population and 64% of the economy are sustained by water from these areas.
• Irrigated agriculture in South Africa, which generated approximately R47.8 billion in gross income in 2013, receives about 70% of its water from surface water SWSAs.
• Groundwater SWSAs are vital for rural and urban water security, supporting 126 towns and rural schemes for over 1.9 million people, while 394 settlements with at least 6.7 million people rely on groundwater as their sole source.
• The report identifies three primary human activities that significantly impact water quantity and quality in SWSAs: changing land cover, irrigated agriculture, and mining, alongside the impact of invasive alien plants.
• Invasive alien plants reduce South Africa's mean annual runoff by at least 1,444 million m3/a, representing 2.9% of the national total, and can destabilize riparian zones.
• The management framework for the forestry sector emphasizes the need for riparian buffer strips (20 metres from the outer edge of wetlands or riparian zones) to reduce sedimentation and the regulation of exotic timber species to prevent stream flow reduction.
• Agricultural impacts in SWSAs include soil loss from poor tillage and nutrient contamination from excessive fertilizer application; the report recommends maintaining uncultivated buffer strips and sustainable stocking rates for rangelands.
• Mining in SWSAs poses risks of acid mine drainage (AMD) and siltation; the guidelines mandate that residue deposits or facilities must not be located within the 1:100-year flood-line or within 100 metres of a watercourse.
• Only 11% of surface-water SWSAs (approximately 18.2 million ha) are under formal protection under the National Environmental Management: Protected Areas Act, leaving many areas vulnerable to unwise development.
• The report recommends that SWSAs be integrated into Spatial Development Frameworks (SDFs), Integrated Development Plans (IDPs), and Environmental Management Frameworks (EMFs) to guide land-use decisions.

APA

Le Maitre, D., Walsdorff, A., Cape, L., Seyler, H., Audouin, M., Smith-Adao, L., Nel, J., & Witthüser, K. (2018). Strategic Water Source Areas: Management Framework and Implementation Guidelines for Planners and Managers. Centre for Environmental Rights. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Management-Guidelines.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Le Maitre, David, Annick Walsdorff, Lydia Cape, Helen Seyler, Michelle Audouin, Lindie Smith-Adao, Jeanne Nel, and Kai Witthüser. Strategic Water Source Areas: Management Framework and Implementation Guidelines for Planners and Managers. Centre for Environmental Rights, 2018. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Management-Guidelines.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Le Maitre |first1=David |last2=Walsdorff |first2=Annick |last3=Cape |first3=Lydia |last4=Seyler |first4=Helen |last5=Audouin |first5=Michelle |last6=Smith-Adao |first6=Lindie |last7=Nel |first7=Jeanne |last8=Witthüser |first8=Kai |title=Strategic Water Source Areas: Management Framework and Implementation Guidelines for Planners and Managers |publisher=Centre for Environmental Rights |date=July 2018 |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Management-Guidelines.pdf?x21779 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{lemaitre2018strategic, author = {Le Maitre, David and Walsdorff, Annick and Cape, Lydia and Seyler, Helen and Audouin, Michelle and Smith-Adao, Lindie and Nel, Jeanne and Witthüser, Kai}, title = {{Strategic Water Source Areas: Management Framework and Implementation Guidelines for Planners and Managers}}, institution = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, year = {2018}, month = jul, url = {https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Management-Guidelines.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }