BERG RIVER MONITORING PROGRAMME

Surveys

Social and Cultural Dependence

Social and recreational use
This part of the monitoring programme will address issues of safety and recreational activities affected by the construction of the Skuifraam Dam. The National Water Act (Act 36 of 1998) requires identification of the "habitual movements" of people in or near the riparian zone who could be placed in danger during flood releases from a dam. Identification of the affected population and their movements has been undertaken for another project commissioned by DWAF: Project Planning in 2001. Results of this analysis and other previous studies on social and recreational activities in the Berg River catchment area will be obtained by the specialist sociologist consultants on the project team and summarised for the initialisation report.

Data collection:
In addition to the synthesis of existing information, the following activities, designed to create opportunities for local stakeholders to identify social and recreational areas along the Berg River and potential danger areas along the river after maximum releases from the Wemmershoek and Skuifraam Dams during winter, will be undertaken:
· Field investigations along the Berg River from source to sea
· One-on-one meetings (both formal and informal) with key stakeholder groups that would include local authority officials, farmers, industry and businesses, managers of resorts and country clubs, sport bodies and recreational user groups.
· Liaison with other organisations and individuals involved with recreational activities in the Berg River catchment area
· Telephonic interviews with interested and affected parties who could not be reached during field investigations and one-on-one meetings.

Monitoring frequency:
· All data collection will take place during the first year of the project.

Deliverables:
The following elements relating to dam safety and recreational use will be included in the final baseline monitoring report:

· A description of the study area;
· A description of the methodology used;
· Brief review of previous studies
· A detailed outline of the social and recreational uses of the Berg River;
· An annotated map that identifies communal, habitual and recreational usage areas and potential danger areas along the river after maximum releases from the Wemmershoek and Skuifraam Dams during winter;
· A detailed table that highlights and describes the field investigation sites as indicated on the map and the possible impacts on social and recreational activities; and,
· Concluding comments and recommendations.

Commercial fishery
The motivation in our initial bid to monitor social dependence of the commercial, subsistence and recreational fishers operating in the Berg River estuary and in St. Helena Bay on 'the resource' has been included in this revised Terms of Reference, based on our initial discussion with the Client (see section 3.2.6 for a discussion of the importance of this component).

Data collection:
Fish catches from the commercial, subsistence and recreational fishers operating in the Berg River estuary and in St. Helena Bay will be monitored to describe:
· the present status of fishing activities,
· catch composition, catch and
· catch-per-unit-effort in the estuary, including natural variability.

Monitoring frequency:
· Monitoring will take place on a monthly basis for the duration of the project.

Deliverables:
· Initialisation report - synthesis of existing information regarding ecosystem structure and function.
· Annual reports including details of sampling programme, compilation of data collected and brief interpretation of the significance of observed changes.
· Input into final baseline monitoring report