Accompanying Local Stakeholders in Negotiation Processes related to Water Allocation through Simulation Models and Role-Playing Games: an Experience from

South Africa is currently undertaking a process of radical reform in the water management sector. Following the National Water Law of 1998, new water institutions are being established to provide a decentralized and participatory management of the resource. These institutions, namely the Catchment Management Agencies (CMAs) and the Water User Associations (WUAs), represent public and private interests and define local water allocation strategies. The new water management institutions have the complex task of matching different and sometimes-contradictory objectives in a socio-economic context characterized by inequalities, lack of or asymmetry of information, and conflicting interests. Hence, a clear need for negotiation and decision support tools for these institutions is perceived. Furthermore, CMAs and WUAs will have to put in place processes of participatory decision-making and facilitate negotiation among water users having different socio-economic characteristics, unequal access to information and knowledge, and therefore a different capacity with regard to lobbying and negotiation. In this context, tools such as simulation models and role-playing games, able to represent the complexity and the uncertainty of the above-mentioned processes, seem to be particularly appropriate. A community of researchers called ComMod (Companion Modelling) developed recently a scientific posture regarding the adoption of simulation models and role-playing games for participatory management of natural resources. The ComMod approach is being adopted to facilitate multi-stakeholder negotiations related to water allocation in a South African water catchment (the Kat River, in the Eastern Cape) where a WUA was recently established. This paper illustrates and discusses the main steps undertaken and foreseen for the adoption of the ComMod approach in the Kat River catchment. 1