WWF and CapeNature shed light on the water quality of our local rivers, 01 February 2010
“Poor infrastructure maintenance and unsustainable land use practices have led to the degradation of some of South Africa’s most critical water catchments, resulting in poor water quality. This exacerbates the water crisis in South Africa which is already a water scarce country” said Dr Mao Amis, Manager of the WWF Integrated Catchment Management Programme this week.
Today (01 March 2010) the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and CapeNature organized a visit to the Jonkershoek section of the Eerste River, to illustrate some of the water quality challenges facing the country’s freshwater systems. This in acordance with the theme of this year’s National Water Week (15-19 March 2010) which is, “The Water Quality Challenge”. The site visit to the Eerste River was divided into three different sites ranging from the headwaters through to the river mouth to illustrate the decline in water quality as one moves further downstream. It was clear from observations by the naked eye and from water quality tests that were conducted that indeed, the condition of the Eerste River deteriorates drastically within a short distance as human activities become more apparent while moving downstream. Water quality is affected by many factors, which makes the management of rivers very challenging. For example in the Eerste River the first observable impact on water quality is due to the Kleinplaasie dam, which is stocked with trout. Further downstream the river is impacted by urbanization,agricultural activities and waste disposal. Jeanne Gouws of CapeNature Scientific Services explained that a decrease in the quality of our rivers had a variety of serious implications both ecologically and socio-economically. Ecologically, poor water quality can have an adverse effect on the biodiversity in our rivers. For example, polluted water disrupts the normal, balanced functioning of an ecosystem, resulting in a collapse of such an ecosystem. In an already water stressed environment, these effects are particularly threatening to the biodiversity contained within our aquatic ecosystems. “Human populations downstream are also dependent on healthy rivers but the reality is, as in the case of the Eerste River, by the time the river reaches the lower areas downstream, it is polluted and unhealthy for human use”, added Amis. The Eerste River is just one of a multitude of rivers in the Western Cape and in the country, where water quality challenges have become increasingly difficult to manage. A concerted effort is required from all sectors of society to address the enormous water quality challenges we face. Agriculture needs to adopt more sustainable farming practices, government needs to implement effective regulation mechanisms, and the private sector needs to invest more towards water stewardship. For interviews and comment contact: Sindiswa Nobula Liesl Brink
« Go Back |