Service Contract No 2007 / 147-446 Strategic ... - Swaziland

Institutional ActorKomati Basin WaterAuthority (KOBWA)SwazilandEnvironment Authority(SEA)Description / relevance to the NASA bi-national company of GoS and the Republic of South Africa (RSA),KOBWA was established through the Treaty on the Development andUtilisation of the Water Resources of the Komati River Basin (1992) toimplement Phase 1 of the Komati River Basin Development Project. Theproject includes the construction of Maguga Dam on the Komati River,opened in March 2003.The main objectives of the Maguga Dam Project include to: stabilise flow inthe Komati River downstream of the Dam, allow for a ‘moderate’ increase inirrigation development, and improve the assurance of water supply toexisting and expansions in irrigation development in the Komati River Basin.KOBWA is involved in water management, and develops operating rules forthe management of the Komati River System, which includes: droughtmanagement plans, water resources availability assessments, and rules forwater resource utilisation. It develops monitoring systems for wateravailability and usage, and the quality of aquatic ecosystems.KOBWA deals with environmental and social issues associated with theimplementation of the project, ensuring that “the quality of the existingenvironment is maintained or improved”, and that the resettlement ofaffected homesteads by the project “are left ‘better off’ than they were priorto project implementation” 58. Of the latter, those resettled downstream of theDam have been assisted in a livelihood restoration programme whichincludes an agricultural irrigation scheme, including the production of sugarcane.Relevance to NAS: Issues include assurance of sufficient andregular/stabilised water downstream of Maguga Dam in the Komati RiverBasin, to enable the development of irrigation schemes, particularly for thesugar sector.Set up by the Swaziland Environment Authority Act (1992), the SEA is anexecutive body dealing with all the environmental matters in the country. Inrelation to the Strategic Environmental Assessment, the SEA is mostrelevant insofar as it has a remit on: (a) monitoring the state of theenvironment; (b) advising on environmental policies; (c) controlling pollutionfrom the sugar sector, especially water and atmospheric emissions; (d)ensuring development projects do not interfere with the quality of theenvironment; and (e) review and approve projects from an environmentalstand point. Recently, and under the Water Act, the competence for theregulation of effluent discharges now falls on the responsibility of the RiverBasin Authorities (RBAs).58 Pamphlet: Komati Basin Water Authority (KOBWA).RDMU (Strategic Environmental Assessment of the National Adaptation Strategy) - Page 146