Factsheet #65

Catchment Management Agency

Instrument Type

formal

Governance Level

local
regional/basin

Governance Mode

hierarchical
network
hybrid

Water management topics addressed

Drought & water scarcity
Water abstraction for irrigation and other economic activities
Water quality issues due to nutrient pollution
Water quality issues: Other reasons

Implementation requirements

Financial capacity

medium

Human capacity

high

Political buy-in

medium

Timeframe for implementation

medium

#65: Catchment Management Agency

Description

Catchment Management Agencies (CMAs) are organisations set up at the catchment level with the aim of decentralising the responsibility for managing water resources.

Function

A core responsibility of authorities such as CMAs is the development of the Catchment Management Strategy (CMS) that regulates in the respective catchment.

Example: Agency for Catchment Management in South Africa

Catchment management agencies can be responsible for setting up the regulatory framework for water use licenses (water-related activities that require licensing, available volume of water to licensed entities, etc.). They also hold overarching prerogatives in the scope of water use and have the faculty to establish water user associations.

Source

STEER (2019). Assessment of variables in the five in-depth case studies of the STEER project. Internal Report. (p. 428)

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