The South African State of Rivers Report: Letaba and Luvuvhu Rivers

RHP

South African
River Health Programme

State of the Rivers Report
Letaba & Luvuvhu
River Systems

RHP background, concepts used in this report, overview of study area and ecoregion characteristics (a pdf file)

ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT CYCLE

VISIONING

The visioning process is about developing a mental picture of what the health of a river should be. A good vision should be: shared by all relevant stakeholders, practically achievable, scientifically sound and should focus on a defined outcome (which may be to sustain certain uses of the river). Catchment Management Agencies will ultimately become responsible for facilitating the visioning process.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

Goals are statements that provide broad direction to aim at in order to advance towards the vision. The desired health categories suggested in this report are examples of such goals. These categories should be regarded as preliminary as their setting was not preceded by a formal and participative visioning process.

To give operational meaning to goals that are stated as health categories, they have to be defined in terms of measurable information about river flows, water chemistry, river habitats and aquatic biota. Such information could serve as quality objectives, which allow us to quantitatively evaluate the present health of the river against the desired health for the river.

STRATEGIES & LOGISTICS

Detailed strategies are needed to align the efforts and resources of collaborating institutions with achieving the set goals and objectives. Such strategies must address both the strategic protection of water resources and regulatory function related to the use of water resources. Strategies should:

Adhere to existing policy and legal frameworks

Cater for shared responsibilities regarding the monitoring and management of river ecosystems

Spell out the roles and responsibilities of collaborating institutions (both public and private sector)

Plan to acquire the necessary resources (workers and equipment)

Provide suitable mechanisms to link with, and draw from, relevant research findings

Provide a framework and action plan for the coordination of river surveys, information management and reporting.

MANAGEMENT ACTIONS

Following are examples of actions that relate to the monitoring and management of river health:

Department of Water and Sanitation

Determine the ecological reserve for the Letaba and Luvuvhu Rivers. The ecological reserve is the statutory concept that makes quality objectives legally binding and provides the basis for issuing water use licences.

Formulate and administer water use licences (for water abstraction and discharge of treated effluent) in line with the in-stream quality and quantity objectives.

Audit and control compliance with licence conditions.

Manage water releases from storage dams to simulate seasonal variations in flows and natural hydrological fluxes as closely as possible.

Forestry Sector

Ensure that a sufficient buffer zone is maintained along all rivers to protect riparian habitats and their functionality

Minimise erosion potential, especially related to construction and maintenance of access roads and harvesting of timber during the rainy season

Working for Water Programme

Coordinate programmes to eradicate or control invasive alien plants

See that riparian zones are properly restored after alien plants have been removed

Local Government Ensure that sewage treatment plants adhere to required operating standards and that treated sewage is of acceptable quality before it is discharged to a river

Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism

Ensure that all major developments (e.g. tourist lodges, roads and dams) are subject to an environmental impact assessment (EIA) before approval to proceed

Agricultural Sector

Protect riparian zones

Use water efficient technologies

Comply with livestock carrying capacities

MONITORING & REPORTING

The River Health Programme (RHP) monitoring must be maintained for the Letaba and Luvuvhu Rivers and should be expanded to include other rivers in the Northern Province. A three-yearly survey frequency has been adopted for the Letaba and Luvuvhu Rivers. All collected data should be stored on the national Rivers Database and SoR reports should be compiled and updated for all rivers every six to nine years.

Within the Northern Province, the provincial Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, the Kruger National Park, the University of the North and the University of Venda are the main institutional drivers of river health monitoring. In future, relevant Catchment Management Agencies are likely to play a prominent role in the coordination of river health initiatives. At national level, the Departments of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (responsible for state-of-environment reporting) and Water and Sanitation (responsible for protection of water resources) are active stakeholders and partners in the implementation of the RHP.

AUDITING

Monitoring and reporting are essential to give regular account of the state of our rivers. However, it is advisable to conduct periodically a comprehensive analysis (audit) of the monitoring results as well as the overall implementation of the programme in order to:

Assess how the actual health of the river system compares with / relates to the stated vision, the set goals and objectives and the specific management actions that have been carried out

Evaluate the performance of those agencies that have a responsibility for the monitoring and management of rivers ecosystems in terms of their allocation of resources, implementation of actions and achievement of goals

The auditing function will be overseen by the Department of Water and Sanitation.

STRATEGIC REFLECTION AND REVIEW

This step is necessary to ensure that the vision, goals, objectives and strategies are periodically reviewed, updated and refined. It is necessary to capture and incorporate new information and improved insights into the next loop of the adaptive monitoring and management cycle.