The obtaining of a Water Use Licence (WUL) is a legal requirement in terms of the National Water Act (Act 36 of 1998). Such licences are required for abstracting water, storing water; discharging waste and disposing of waste in a manner which may detrimentally impact on a water resource and for activities that result in the intervention or alteration of the natural flowing of our county’s water resources. Depending on the nature of the development and infrastructure to be constructed, a WUL license may be required and an application must be submitted and approved by the Dept of Water and Sanitation (DWS), if listed activities are triggered in terms of Section 21 of the National Water Act.
Regulations for conducting a risk assessment and issuing a General Authorisation have recently been promulgated Water use for “non-consumptive use” such as the building of a bridges, structures, parking areas, stormwater structures etc. Certain such uses which fall within wetlands may be covered under a General Authorization, depending on the risk posed to the watercourse and catchment.
The Company has the expertise to prepare the full applications and manage the legal processes and liaise with the relevant government authorities to obtain the required licences or General Authorisations, whichever is relevant, for all types of structures and/ or infrastructure.
Services we provide, include amongst others:
- Full preparation and submission of applications for Water use Licenses to DWS in terms of the e-WULAAS system
- Undertaking Risk Assessments in terms of DWS criteria
- Full preparation and submission of General Authorisations
- Obtaining legalisation / registration of unauthorized uses
