Malawi Water Resources Act 2013: Borehole Provisions Visible in the Act

Summary of the Act (Act No. 2 of 2013) as published on MalawiLII. The page read gave full text for only some sections; others showed headings only.

s.68 is headed "Permit to drill a borehole or to engage in borehole drilling programme for groundwater exploration." Its conditions were not visible.
s.84 is headed "Licensing of borehole drillers and constructors." Only the heading was visible.
s.69 ("Submission of records"): a person constructing or drilling a borehole, if required to keep records under this Part, shall send the listed items to the Authority within one month of the cessation of construction (the list was not visible).
s.71: a contractor drilling on someone else's land is deemed the person constructing the borehole and is jointly and severally liable with the landowner for the obligations under s.69.
s.76: every artesian and sub-artesian borehole shall be efficiently cased, capped or furnished with appliances that arrest the flow over the ground surface or wasting through the strata.
s.78: it is an offence to re-case or remove plugs or seals from a defective borehole, or dump material into one, without the Authority's written permission.
s.80 (text partly visible) says that if a borehole is found to contain salt water the Authority shall give instructions by order; s.81 lets the Authority examine a borehole suspected of containing salt water and issue instructions for curing defects.

Not verified: s.38 (domestic use, groundwater, rainwater harvesting), s.39 (licence for abstraction), s.45 (exemptions) and the Water Resources Regulations 2018; texts were not seen. The page shows the version as at 31 December 2014 and says the Act was later consolidated in the Fifth Revised Edition (L.R.O. 1/2018), so this text may not be the latest consolidation (Not verified:).

General information only. Not legal advice. Confirm with the National Water Resources Authority.