| (1) | The water user must ensure that: |
| (a) | Impeding or diverting the flow and/or altering the bed, banks, course or characteristics of a watercourse do not detrimentally affect the on-site and surrounding environment or other up-stream and down-stream water users, property, health and safety of the general public, or the resource quality. |
| (b) | The existing hydraulic, hydrologic, geomorphic and ecological functions of the watercourse in the vicinity of the structure is maintained or improved upon. |
| (c) | Upon written request of the responsible authority, the water user must implement any additional management measures and/or monitoring programmes that may be reasonably necessary to determine potential impacts on the water resource and for management measures to address such impacts. |
| (2) | Prior to the carrying out of any works,the water user must ensure that all persons entering on-site, including contractors and casual labourers, are made fully aware of the conditions and related management measures specified under section 7(1)-(12) of this Notice. |
| (3) | The water user must ensure that— |
| (a) | any construction camp; storage of vehicles; any storage, washing and maintenance of equipment, and any storage of construction materials and/or chemicals; as well as any sanitation and waste management facilities, |
| (i) | is located outside the 1 in 100-year flood line or riparian habitat of a river, spring, lake or dam and or outside any drainage area feeding any delineated wetland or pan, and |
| (ii) | must be removed within 30 days after the completion of any works. |
| (b) | The water user must ensure that the selection of a site for establishing any impeding or diverting the flow or altering the bed, banks, course or characteristics of a watercourse works: |
| (i) | is not located on a bend in the watercourse; |
| (ii) | avoid high gradient areas, unstable slopes, actively eroding banks, interflow zones, springs, and seeps; |
| (iii) | avoid and/or minimise realignment of the course of the watercourse; |
| (iv) | minimise the footprint of the alteration, as well as the construction footprint so as to minimise the effect on the watercourse. |
| (c) | The water user must ensure that a maximum impact footprint around the works is established, clearly demarcated, that no vegetation is cleared or damaged beyond this demarcation, and that equipment and machinery is only operated within the delineated impact footprint. |
| (d) | The water user must ensure that measures are implemented to minimise the duration of disturbance and the footprint of the disturbance of the beds and banks of the watercourse. |
| (e) | The water user must ensure that measures are implemented to prevent the transfer of biota that is not indigenous to the environment at the site. |
| (f) | The water user must ensure that all works, including for emergency alterations and/or the rectification of incidents, start upstream and proceed in a downstream direction where feasible, to ensure minimal impact on the water resource. |
| (g) | The water user must ensure that all material excavated from the bed or banks of the watercourse are maintained in a usable and unpolluted state and stored at a clearly demarcated location until the works have been completed, upon which the excavated material must be backfilled to the locations from where it was taken (i.e.material taken from the bed must be returned to the bed, and material taken from the banks must be returned to the banks). |
| (h) | The water user must ensure that adequate erosion control measures are implemented at and near all alterations, including at existing structures and/or activities, with particular attention to erosion control at steep slopes and drainage lines. |
| (i) | The water user must ensure that alterations and/or hardened surfaces associated with such structures and/or works— |
| (i) | are structurally stable; |
| (ii) | do not induce sedimentation, erosion or flooding; |
| (iii) | do not cause a detrimental change in the quantity, velocity, pattern, timing, water level and assurance of flow in a watercourse; |
| (iv) | do not cause a detrimental change in the quality of water in the watercourse; |
| (v) | do not cause a detrimental change in the stability or geomorphological structure of the watercourse; and |
| (vi) | do not create nuisance condition, or health or safety hazards. |
| (j) | The water user must ensure that measures are implemented at alterations, including at existing structures and/or activities, to— |
| (i) | prevent detrimental changes to the breeding, nesting and/or feeding patterns of aquatic biota, including migratory species; |
| (ii) | allow for the free up and downstream movement of aquatic biota, including migratory species; and |
| (iii) | prevent a decline in the composition and diversity of the indigenous and endemic aquatic biota. |
| (k) | The water user must ensure that no substance or material that can potentially cause pollution of the water resource is being used in works, including for emergency alterations and/or the rectification of reportable incidents. |
| (l) | The water user must ensure that measures including storm water measures are implemented to prevent increased turbidity, sedimentation and detrimental chemical changes to the composition of the water resource as a result of carrying out the works, including for emergency alterations and/or the rectification of reportable incidents. |
| (m) | During the carrying out of any works, the water user must take dated photographs one week before, weekly during and weekly for 4 weeks after the completion of such works including for emergency structures and rectifications of reporting incidents. These photographs must be made available to the responsible authority, upon request. |
| (a) | For rehabilitation as contemplated under paragraph 6(1)(v); the rehabilitation must be conducted in terms of a rehabilitation plan and implementation of the plan must be overseen by a suitably qualified SACNASP professional member or SACLAP professional. This includes rehabilitation being done for emergency alterations and/or the rectification of reportable incidents. |
| (b) | For all other construction or maintenance activities upon completion of the construction activities related to the water use— |
| (i) | systematic rehabilitation must be undertaken to restore the watercourse to its condition prior to the commencement of the water use; |
| (ii) | all disturbed areas must be re-vegetated with indigenous vegetation suitable to the area or according to a plant species plan; |
| (iii) | active alien invasive plant control measures must be implemented to prevent invasion by exotic and alien vegetation within the disturbed area; and |
| (iv) | The Master Layout Plan as was used during the risk assessment must ensure "Design with nature" principles by excluding sensitive area,provide erosion protection, upkeep and maintenance of structures. |
| (c) | Following the completion of any works, or during any annual inspection to determine the need for maintenance at any impeding or diverting structure,the water user must ensure that all disturbed areas are— |
| (i) | cleared of construction debris and other blockages; |
| (ii) | cleared of alien invasive vegetation; |
| (iii) | reshaped to free-draining and non-erosive contours,and |
| (iv) | re-vegetated with indigenous and endemic vegetation suitable to the area. |
| (d) | Upon completion of any works, the water user must ensure that the hydrological functionality and integrity of the watercourse, including its bed, banks, course (flow regime), riparian habitat and aquatic biota is equivalent to or exceeds that what existed before commencing with the works. |
| (5) | Monitoring and Reporting |
| (a) | The water user must determine the in-stream baseline water quality for pH, EC, TSS, Turbidity, Temperature and Dissolved Oxygen ("DO") weekly for 1 month before commencement of the water use. This must include dated photographic records of all the sites. Thereafter in-stream water quality (same parameters) must be measured on a weekly basis during construction both upstream and downstream from the activities and continue until baseline values have been achieved. Baseline water quality levels and other resource quality characteristics must be reached and be maintained after construction and rehabilitation. |
| (b) | The water user must ensure the establishment and implementation of a monitoring program as required to measure the impacts on the resource quality as mentioned in 7(3)a-m. |
| (c) | Upon the written request of the responsible authority the water user must: |
| (i) | Ensure the establishment of any additional monitoring programmes or plan; and |
| (ii) | Assess the water use measurements made in terms of this notice and submit the finding to the responsible authority for evaluation;and |
| (iii) | Ensure environmental audits are conducted; and |
| (iv) | Submit electronically as indicated under Record Keeping and Disclosure of Information under section 7(8) of this notice; |
| (d) | Upon completion of construction activities related to the water use, the water user must undertake an Environmental Audit by a suitably qualified person within 6 months of completion of the activities to ensure that the rehabilitation is stable. Should the Environmental Audit find that further remedial work is required to rectify any impacts it must be implemented. |
| (e) | Rehabilitation structures must be inspected monthly for the accumulation of debris, blockages, instabilities and erosion with concomitant remedial and maintenance actions until it is stable. |
| (f) | Copies of all designs, method statements, rehabilitation and monitoring plans and any other relevant reports as considered in the Risk Matrix, must be made available to the responsible authority as per section 141 of the Act as per request under paragraph (5Xc)iii. |
| (a) | The water user must ensure that there is a budget sufficient to complete, rehabilitate, monitor and maintain the water use as set out in this Notice. |
| (b) | The Department may at any stage of the process request proof of budgetary provisions. |
| (a) | Subject to the provisions of this General Authorisation, a new water user must submit the relevant registration forms to the responsible authority. |
| (b) | The responsible authority must provide confirmation of registration to the water user within 30 working days of the responsible authority being satisfied that the submission complies to all the requirements of this notice. |
| (c) | On written receipt of a registration certificate/fetter from the Department,the person will be regarded as a registered water user and can only then commence with the water use as contemplated in this Notice. |
| (d) | Upon change of ownership the successor in title must notify the region or CMA within 3 months to have the existing entitlement registered in his/her name. |
NOTE: Registration Forms can be obtained from DWS Regional Offices or Catchment Management Agency office of the Department or from the Departmental website: http://www.dws.gov.za and EWULAAs
| (8) | Record-keeping and disclosure of information |
| (a) | Subject to paragraph (5)(a) and (5)(c) above, the water user must, for at least the first five years, keep a written record of monitoring results and any other supporting documents related to the activity and its related risks and must be made available upon inspection or written request. |
| (b) | Water users are further required to register on www.dws.gov.za/dir_ws/wsmenu and upload all documents applicable to the full project life cycle including baseline water quality data and monthly monitoring data against baseline as required in terms of paragraph (5) on the departmental Integrated Regulatory Information System (see information box below). |
NOTE: The water user shall register on the Integrated Regulatory Information System on http://ws.dwa.gov.za/IRIS.aspx
Any property in respect of which a water use has been registered in terms of this Notice is subject to inspection as contemplated in sections 124 and 125 of the Act.
A person who contravenes any provision of this authorisation is guilty of an offence as set out in section 151 (1) of the Act and is subject to the penalty set out in section 151(2) of the Act.
Compliance with this Notice, the Act, Regulations under the Act, and other laws
| (11) | The responsibility for complying with the provisions of this authorisation is vested in the water user and not any other person or body. |
| (12) | This authorisation does not exempt a person who uses water from compliance with any provision of the Act unless stated otherwise in this Notice, or any other applicable law, regulation, ordinance or by-law. |
