Key water sector stakeholders led by the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) gathered to make inputs into the National Water Resource Strategy 3 (NWRS-3).

The primary key focus of the NWRS-3 is to ensure equitable and sustainable access to and use of water by all South Africans while sustaining the water resource. The Cabinet approved the National Water Resource Strategy 3 for gazetting and public consultation, and Eastern Cape is the first Province to hold this public consultative workshop.

Among attendees were Water Services Authorities (WSAs), South African Local Government Association (SALGA), Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), MISA, Water Services Providers (WSP) and Amatola Water Board (AW).

The NWRS 3 workshop broke into four commissions deliberating on issues of increasing water supply for the country, redistributing water for transformation, building capacity for action, and managing water and sanitation under Climate Change conditions.

Workshop attendees forwarded inputs on NWRS 3 that need to be considered; issues of having geohydrologists or guidelines on how to manage water sustainably because the province has many boreholes to supplement fresh water.

There is also a suggestion that the standard of RDP houses needs to be improved to accommodate yard connections. The DWS has been encouraged to develop guidelines to manage groundwater efficiently.

The outcomes of the first NWRS 3 consultative workshop today promise to ensure that water and sanitation serve as enablers for inclusive economic and social well-being, more so as the sector is identified as critical to the country’s economic recovery.