According to Section 22(1) of the NWA a person may only use water without a licence if that water use is permissible under Schedule 1 or if that water use is permissible as a continuation of an existing lawful use or if that water use is permissible in terms of a general authorisation issued under section 39 of the National Water Act. The authorisations to take or store water given in this General Authorisation does not affect or replace the entitlements to take or store water given in Schedule 1 of the National Water Act, or given in section 34 of the Act to continue existing lawful water uses.

This general authorisation may be withdrawn at short notice. A water user who needs an entitlement with a firm duration may apply for a water use license.

This general authorisation will only come into effect and the current general authorisation will only be withdrawn six months after the publication of the notice to allow affected water users to apply for water use licences and for users to comply with the revised conditions.

This general authorisation does not and cannot exempt any water user from compliance with any provision of the National Water Act or any other legal requirement.

The amount of water authorised by the general authorisation is limited to prevent an unacceptable impact on water resources.

Information on the method of delineation of watercourses is contained in the Department's 2005 publication, A Practical Field Procedure for Identification and Delineation of Wetlands and Riparian Areas, which is available on the Department's website at http://www.dws.qov.za.

Information on drainage regions can be obtained on the Department's website at http: / /www.dws.gov.za or from the Department.