With recent rains the water levels in the iMfolozi River has risen dramatically. This means that water restrictions will be lifted in the near future. Although with more rain falling in the catchments areas of the River, it could mean that the iMfolozi River will break trough into the ocean again. The current hydraulic pressure will be lost in such a scenario and the inflow of water into the Estuary from the River will seize.
All back pressure to keep water in the River upstream will be lost and once again all the potential tap water will run into the sea again. Good or bad this is the natural cycle and humans have to adapt around this conditions. The down side of this is restriction on development and this restric's the flow of five star tourism. With the increase of Five Star tourism more development is needed an a greater pressure is added to the environment and the life span of the planet.
Sometimes mans footprint on earth is just to deep for nature to survive.
The rain issue is quite serious, and the Umfolozi river has been dry for some time now. The little rain that has fallen in the Umfolozi River catchment area has been most welcome, but it is not enough to really say the drought has gone.
ReplyDeleteLets just pray and hope that the IWPA (iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority) and KZN Wild Life do not try to open the mouth of the Umfolozi river them selves, but instead let nature take its course and wait for Lake St. Lucia and the Umfolozi Flood plain to fill up above sea level and breach the burm naturally.
This has been a problem in the past where the IWPA (iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority)and KZN Wild Life have managed this problem and forcefully kept the Umfolozi River Mouth open for reasons that they have never really explained properly at a public meeting. one of the reasons sited by them was the pollution caused by the farming pesticides and herbicides, but I have not found any documentation where they have had meetings with the agricultural community of the Umfolozi River Flood plains requesting the farmers to use greener pest control and less chemicals so I take this as hot air that steams up the windows so that we can not see their real agenda.
Lets hope that this little water can remain around long enough to start filling the water table with fresh water, and that the salt water levels in the underground water systems of the Umfolozi River Flood plain are stablised and halted before they manage to goo toooo far inland.
Problem that most folks do not understand, is that salt water and fresh water do not easily mix, and the constant pumping of water in the Umflozi River Flood Plain for various reasons including domestic water supply and agricultural water, as well as RBM's mining process have caused the direction of the underground water to move from the ocean inland, and I feel that there should be some tests dome to see just how serious this undergruond water movement has been, and weather it needs some intervention from UNESCO or not.
Does any body know of any recent tests for chemicals / salinity that have been done in the region ?
Let us know because these things make interesting reading and should be managed properly.