The budget for water quality management in the DWAF is shown in Table 3.5. In response to the problems that have arisen in the past, and the recognition of the catchment as the ideal management unit, changes to the institutional structures for the management of water resources are occurring. CMAs allow for the implementation of integrated catchment management and integrated water resource management , policies that have been supported by the DWAF for years. Until such time as the CMAs are functional, Government water control areas remain important in the management and allocation of water resources. The Water Act 54 of 1956 allowed the Minister to declare Government water control areas in any area where the abstraction, utilisation, supply or distribution of the surface- or groundwater needed to be controlled in the public interest.
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