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FRACKING, COAL GASIFICATION: INPUT SOUGHT ON WATER USE REGULATIONS
- 27 February 2026
- Minerals & Energy
- SA Legal Academy
The Department of Water & Sanitation has gazetted draft regulations on water use for onshore exploration and production requiring hydraulic fracturing and underground coal gasification – calling for input by 28 April 2026.
Intended to minimise the detrimental and cumulative impact of controlled activities on affected water resources, among other things the proposed new regulations cover:
- licence application requirements
- drilling and wastewater management
- well design and decommissioning
- prohibitions and restrictions, and
- offences and penalties.
The draft regulations should be read in conjuction with three sets of regulatory proposals developed by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries & the Environment and gazetted in November 2025 for public comment, as SA Legal Academy reported at the time.
Once finalised and operationalised, the proposed new regulations will be implemented in terms of provisions in the 2002 Mineral & Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA) until the 2024 Upstream Petroleum Resources Development Act is in effect.
- draft regulations
- SA Legal Academy November 2025 report
- 2002 MPRDA, updated (SAFLII)
- 2024 Upstream Petroleum Resources Development Act (not yet in force)
Published by SA Legal Academy Policy Watch
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