National Water Resource Strategy

The National Water Resource Strategy (NWRS2) outlines a comprehensive plan to manage South Africa's scarce water resources sustainably and equitably. It prioritizes water allocation reform to redress historical imbalances, emphasizes water conservation and demand management (WCWDM) to reconcile supply and demand, and proposes a significant institutional realignment, including the establishment of nine Catchment Management Agencies and Regional Water Utilities. The strategy addresses critical challenges such as climate change, water pollution, and infrastructure backlogs, while estimating a total sector investment requirement of R700 billion over ten years.

• South Africa is a water-stressed country where surface water resources are reaching full utilization, and the country is running out of suitable sites for new dams.
• The total investment required for the water sector over the next ten years is estimated at R700 billion, comprising R670 billion for infrastructure and R30 billion for sustainable water management programmes.
• Water consumption in the domestic sector increased from 22% to 27% of the total resource over the last ten years.
• Non-Revenue Water (NRW) for urban supply systems averaged 36.8% over a six-year period, with some municipal schemes reporting NRW as high as 90%.
• The irrigation sector is the largest single user of water in South Africa, accounting for 60% of water resources, but experiences losses between 35% and 45%.
• Climate change is projected to reduce overall water availability, with the interior and western parts of the country likely to experience more intense and prolonged droughts.
• The strategy identifies a critical need for Water Allocation Reform (WAR) to redress past racial and gender imbalances in water access for productive use.
• South Africa's aquatic ecosystems are severely threatened, with 60% of the 223 river ecosystem types threatened and 65% of 792 wetland ecosystems identified as threatened.
• The government plans to consolidate existing water boards into nine Regional Water Utilities and establish nine Catchment Management Agencies (CMAs) to decentralize water resource management.
• Strategic Water Source Areas, which cover only 8% of the land area across South Africa, Lesotho, and Swaziland, provide 50% of the water in these countries.
• The strategy prioritizes a 'water mix' to reconcile supply and demand, including groundwater utilization, water re-use, desalination, and rainwater harvesting, as surface water development potential is limited.
• The energy sector uses approximately 2% of available water but contributes about 15% to the national GDP.

APA

Centre for Environmental Rights (2013). National Water Resource Strategy. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/1999/12/NWRS2-2013.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Centre for Environmental Rights. National Water Resource Strategy. 2013. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/1999/12/NWRS2-2013.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Centre for Environmental Rights |title=National Water Resource Strategy |date=June 2013 |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/1999/12/NWRS2-2013.pdf?x21779 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{centreforenvironmentalrights2013national, author = {{Centre for Environmental Rights}}, title = {{National Water Resource Strategy}}, institution = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, year = {2013}, month = jun, url = {https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/1999/12/NWRS2-2013.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }