Construction World July 2017

WATER ENGINEERING

Water use licences are required by a range of water users from mines and industry to property developers and farmers; even public sector organisations like local authorities, provincial authorities and road agencies may need authorisation for projects. According to Manda Hinsch, partner and principal water and environmental scientists at SRK Consulting, the new regulations are a positive step that aligns the timelines for Water Use Licence Authorisations (WULAs) with those already applying for environmental authorisations as required by the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA). “Both processes now promise authorisations within 300 calendar days, if all documents and studies are in order,” said Hinsch. “In the past, receiving water use authorisation could take up to three to five years.” She said these delays often led to applicants simply starting project construction without the necessary authorisation, since the positive socio-economic impact of proceeding was deemed to outweigh the negative environmental impacts. “Also, assessment processes within the department were not always well-monitored, so it was difficult to track the stage which an application had reached within the process,” she said. Hinsch said the process will now begin with a pre-application meeting with the water authority, followed by the submission of the application within five days. A date for a site visit then needs to be finalised within five days after that, and the visit itself must take place within 30 days. The authority is then expected to respond within five days of the site visit, outlining the exact requirements for the WULA. The applicant then has 105 days to prepare and submit the necessary technical reports, as well as conduct the public participation processes. Following submission, the authority has 10 days to acknowledge receipt of the application, and 139 days to consider the documenta- tion and make a decision – after which it has five days to actually issue the decision. “The new regulations also formalise the public participation requirements, which were neglected in the past – particularly if a WULA was required without the need for an environmental authorisation,” said Hinsch. “These regulated timelines are tight, and place pressure on both the department and applicants to work quickly and efficiently,” she said, adding that SRK also makes use of in-house specialists Curbing delays in licencing Recent regulations from the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) will hopefully overcome the long delays in securing water use licences, and allow more streamlined implementation of projects.

AECOM recently worked on the Eastern Basin Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) treatment plant. Acid mine drainage is generated when ore and other sulphide-containing mining waste is exposed to oxygen and water.

The aim of the dialogue was to provide input into the conceptual- isation of the country’s new master plan on water and sanitation. This plan is expected to be finalised as early as the end of the year. Speaking at the dialogue, Deputy Minister of Water and Sanitation, Pamela Tshwete, challenged stakeholders in particular big business, to assist with the development and implementation of the master plan. In response, Eskom’s water management lead, Nandha Govender, presented private sector initiatives the public utility is implementing together with corporate partners, the Department of Water and Sanitation and civil society through the Strategic Water Partners Network (SWPN). SWPN is a multi-stakeholder partnership aimed at helping close South Africa’s 17% demand-supply water deficit gap, by 2030. For example, the partnership has worked to address some of the water resource management challenges affecting South Africa’s mining industry. Although mining companies currently treat their effluent in accordance with national regulations, the continued installation of energy and capital intensive mine water treatment facilities is unlikely sustainable in the long run. While a relevant regional approach for an entire mining area is ideal, it requires agreement on actionable solutions, as well as how costs are partitioned among mining companies – with respect to operational mines, and the state – with respect to non-operational mines as required by law. To address this challenge, the SWPN helped establish a mine water coordinating body in the Emalahleni (formerly Witbank) coal mining area, which begins approximately 100 km east of the capital city, Pretoria and runs mostly along the Olifants River catchment. The mine water coordinating body brings together area stakeholders from the public and private sectors and civil society to address some of the mine’s most pressing challenges. Over the next 30 years, several mines are expected to close in the Emalahleni region. At present, area stakeholders must determine who will manage, operate, maintain and finance post closure discharge water treatment facilities, already built by mining companies. Given that costs will not be recovered by selling treated water to municipalities alone, even when initial capital costs are subtracted, another solution must be found.  Water and sanitation strategy Recently, South Africa held its first National Water a nd Sanitation Dialogue. It gathered stakeholders from the agriculture, manufacturing, energy and mining sectors amongst others.

to undertake the hydrological and geo-hydrological studies, often required for WULAs, further simplifying and speeding up the process. 

Manda Hinsch, partner and principal water and environmental scientists at SRK Consulting.

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CONSTRUCTION WORLD JULY 2017