Water Resour Manage (2009) 23:2895–2911 DOI 10.1007/s11269-009-9415-4 Benefit and Implementation of Groundwater Protection Zoning in South Africa Jaco Nel · Yongxin Xu · Okke Batelaan · Luc Brendonck Received: 29 May 2008 / Accepted: 21 January 2009 / Published online: 24 February 2009 © Springer Science + Business Media B.V. 2009 Abstract Groundwater studies in several African countries show that the contami- nation of water-supply aquifers is mainly due to improper placement of land-based activities such as agriculture, industries, waste disposal. In South Africa, groundwater pollution is also of increasing concern due to fast population growth and accompany- ing development. Groundwater protection zoning is a supplemental methodology for groundwater management that incorporates land use planning. The land is managed to minimize the potential of groundwater contamination by human activities that occur on or below the land surface. The various benefits associated with implemen- tation of protection zoning are discussed for stakeholders such as communities, water supply companies, ecosystems and policy makers. A South African case study is pre- sented comparing the cost of protection with the cost incurred due to the treatment of sick and dying people due to contaminated drinking water. These benefits must be communicated to the stakeholders to start the implementation at all management levels. Implementation steps of groundwater protection zones are discussed and can J. Nel (B ) · Y. Xu UNESCO Chair Centre, University of the Western Cape, Bellville, Cape Town, South Africa e-mail: jmnel@uwc.ac.za O. Batelaan Department of Hydrology and Hydraulic Engineering, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium e-mail: batelaan@vub.ac.be O. Batelaan Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200e–bus 2410, 3001 Heverlee, Belgium e-mail: okke.batelaan@ees.kuleuven.be L. Brendonck Laboratory of Aquatic Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Charles Deberiotstraat 32 - bus 2439, 3000 Leuven, Belgium e-mail: Luc.Brendonck@bio.kuleuven.be