THE INTERFACE BETWEEN CUSTOMARY AND STATUTORY WATER RIGHTS ? A STATUTORY PERSPECTIVE

In the countries where customary rules play a significant role, particularly in the rural areas, customary law and customary water rights are a factor to be reckoned with when preparing "modern" legislation regulating the abstraction and use of water resources through government permits or licences. From a statutory perspective, the two water rights systems intersect and interact in the transitional phase following enactment of new water legislation, and in the course of administering the latter's abstraction licensing regulatory provisions. The law avails mechanisms to prevent collision between the two water rights systems, and to settle disputes. The analysis of these mechanisms raises a number of issues. Further research into the functioning of these mechanisms will be welcome to shed additional light on a much neglected facet of water resources law, and to eventually strengthen non-confrontational approaches to accommodating customary water rights and practices in the new dispensation inaugurated by modern water legislation.