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dam-l SA wetlands rehab article/LS
R2.6 million to alleviate SA's looming water crisis
Montrose, Free State - A R2.6 million project involving Rand Water, the
government and an independently funded conservation group has been set up to
help alleviate South Africa's looming water crisis.
The project - funded by Rand Water and the Department of Agriculture, and
co-ordinated by Rennies Wetland Project and Free State department of
environmental affairs and tourism - is the largest amount ever spent on
rehabilitation in the country.
The project involves the rehabilitation of wetlands on farm land in the Free
State's upper Wilge River area and tribal land in the former Qwa Qwa
homeland.
Both these areas feed the Vaal Dam, which supplies Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Free
State, the North-West and Northern Province with water.
According to current estimates by the Department of Water Affairs, the
country is expected to run out of water by the year 2030.
Gauteng has already depleted its water supply and depends on water from
other provinces for private and industrial use.
Rand Water spokesman Marc De Fontaine told Sapa on Tuesday that present
statistics painted an "scary picture".
"We supply to 10 million consumers in Gauteng and our area is steadily
getting bigger.
"We are going to be drawing water from other catchments simply to support
the developing industry and infrastructure taking place in Gauteng and we
want to ensure the catchments are managed in a constructive and responsible
manner to ensure they produce as much good quality water as possible."
The project is also more economical than the outlay involved in the building
of a new dam which would cost over a billion rand.
De Fontaine said wetlands were essentially Rand Water's competition: "They
purify the water, and manage the quantity and quality of the water going
through them."
Rand Water sponsored the rehabilitation of wetlands in farm land in the
upper Wilge River area where deep gullies caused by soil erosion have
drained water from the wetland, drying out the area.
Rennies Wetland project co-ordinator David Lindley said that while saving
wetlands was not as tangible and therefore not as exciting as saving the
rhino, these areas were vital to the country both economically and
environmentally.
"Wetlands purify water, store and regulate streamflow, and trap water to
ensure there is water during drought periods. Yet wetlands are one of the
most threatened habitats in the world," he said.
Lindley said the rehabilitation of wetlands would greatly reduce the number
of people who died from illnesses caused by drinking contaminated water.
At present about 650 people die from diarrhoea each day in South Africa -
mostly as a result of drinking contaminated drinking water - according to
the Water Research Commission.
"The total annual cost of hospitalising and treating patients with diarrhoea
is estimated at R15 billion. This is equivalent to South Africa's 3% annual
economic growth rate," he said.
The rural project to rehabilitate about 10 kilometres of wetland at Monontsa
village, near Phuthaditjhaba in the old Qwa Qwa homeland, was funded by the
Department of Agriculture's National Land Care Programme.
The community based programme assists land users in soil and water
conservation.
The two projects, which took five months to complete, employed about 212
people from the area. - Sapa
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Lori Pottinger, Director, Southern Africa Program,
and Editor, World Rivers Review
International Rivers Network
1847 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, California 94703, USA
Tel. (510) 848 1155 Fax (510) 848 1008
http://www.irn.org
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