Groundwater/surface-water interaction is receiving increasing focus in Africa due to its importance to ecologic systems and sustainability. In South Africa’s 1998 National Water Act (NWA), water-use licenses, including groundwater, are granted only after defining the Reserve, the amount of water needed to supply basic human needs and preserve some ecological integrity. Accurate quantification of groundwater contributions to ecosystems for successful implementation of the NWA proves challenging; many of South Africa’s aquifers are in heterogeneous and anisotropic fractured-rock settings. This paper reviews the current conceptualizations and investigative approaches regarding groundwater/surface-water interactions in the context of South African policies. Some selected pitfall experiences are emphasized. The most common approach in South Africa is estimation of average annual fluxes at the scale of fourth-order catchments (∼500 km2) with baseflow separation techniques and then subtracting the groundwater discharge rate from the recharge rate. This approach might be a good start, but it ignores spatial and temporal variability, potentially missing local impacts associated with production-well placement. As South Africa’s NWA has already been emulated in many countries including Zambia, Zimbabwe and Kenya, the successes and failures of the South African experience dealing with the groundwater/surface-water interaction will be analyzed to guide future policy directions.

Abstract: The Programa Água Doce-PAD(in English: Fresh Water Program) promoted by the Brazilian Federal Government under the coordinationof the Environmental Ministry, seeks to promote sustainable use of groundwater resources and provide potable water for human consumption in areas withcriticalwater scarcity in the Brazilian Semiarid region, through the use of the Reverse Osmosis Technique. The Program is guided by the following principles: community empowerment, environmental sustainability and technicalcapacity building. The methodology that led the Program to becomea success case was conceived in 2003, through a participatory process with the contribution of public Brazilian institutions such as: Federal University of Campina Grande-UFCG (Social Engagement Procedure); Brazilian Geologic Service-CPRM (Ground Water information), Brazilian Agriculture Research Corporation ?EMBRAPA (Methodology for the reuse of desalinated water concentrate), besides 10 Brazilian State ?s Governments and the civil society. The Program was launched in 2004.Ithas, presently,more than 460 installed Desalination Plants, which, together,can producea total of approximately 1.5 million liters (around 400,000 gallons) of potable water per day (considering a 8h/per dayproduction).It has,so far,benefited about 184,000 people in over 460 rural communities spread throughout the Brazilian semiarid region, ensuring safe water access to its residents. The program has already trained more than 1,000 people, including state technicians and operators of desalination systems. The Program contributes to improving the health and life quality of people in the semiarid regionas it takesinto account the naturaland socialpotential of each communitie, ensuring ways to address the vulnerabilities to which they are subjected becauseof climate variability. Social engagement is a mandatory aspect for the Program?s success. Local communities are stimulated to gain their independence by having, through the PAD methodology, their empowerment encouraged and demanded.The ultimate goal of the first large scaleplan is to take Desalination Systems to at least 1,300 communities throughout the Brazilian Semiaridregion. The Environmental Ministry is seeking to improve the systems with solar energy and automatized machinery,looking forward to improve local communities? independence.

Debido al incremento de instalaciones de contadores de agua en muchas zonas regables espanolas, como parte complementaria a una optima gestion de los recursos hidraulicos; esta comunicacion pretende ofrecer una vision de los modelos de contadores mas utilizados y de sus caracteristicas, en relacion a la denominacion "Contadores homologados", termino que aparece en el borrador de la futura Ley de Aguas, como interpretacion de la norma existente de metrologia legal, que deben cumplir dichos aparatos, para su uso como elementos de control fiable, asi como para facturar tarifas de agua (quizas en el futuro, tarifas binomias).