The water issue... is there a solution?

The water issue... is there a solution? - Peter Schafer

Sparrebosch's application to draw 790-million litres of water a year from the Noetzie River has met with strong resistance from environmentalists, who fear that the vulnerable ecosystem of the river would be destroyed by pumping out such large volumes of water.

A spate of letters to the national press has condemned the application. Whatever the outcome of this tussle, it will have a major impact on the future of golfing estates throughout the Southern Cape, which already have a total capitalisation of over R3-billion, and huge future foreign earnings potential. We present the cases of both sides to give our readers a perspective on the issue.

KNYSNA WATER FORUM Dwaf will decide

The Department of Water Affairs & Forestry (DWAF) has appointed a leading ecologist to do a river impact assessment on the estuary. The main aim of this study will be to establish how much water is needed in the Noetzie River to maintain its water levels and ecological balance.

Hub Sandberg, chairman of the Knysna Water Forum, says that based on the outcome the department will decide whether Pezula will be allowed to pump water from the river and, if so, in what volumes.

The Forum voted unanimously against Pezula's application in June and had sent its recommendations to the department along with dozens of objections from Knysna residents. The issue, says Sandberg, had become such an emotional point among locals that there would be “a hell of an outcry” should DWAF's evaluation show that the water levels are such that the river could indeed provide water for the Pezula Estate.

“While objections need to be substantiated with facts, you don't need to be a rocket scientist to realise that the river is too small to extract vast amounts of water from it. Ultimately there is no getting away from it that the Noetzie River was never considered as a source of water in the original environmental impact assessment for the Pezula Estate.”

FORESTRY CONSULTANT Demand 'absurd’

Theo Stehle is a consultant to Forestry Technical & Info. Services, Special Projects. He was the local forestry representative in the Sparrebosch IEM Process and was involved with the management of the Knysna indigenous forests for almost 20 years. Here Stehle, who has spent much of his life walking the course of the Noetzie River, writes in his personal capacity.

“The river is uniquely unspoilt, and I can confirm, with my ecological background, that the riverine and estuarine environment would be seriously impacted upon by any large volumes of water abstracted from the system. In fact, what makes it more serious, is that the greatest need for water for the golf course would be during dry spells, when the flow of the river is at its lowest.

It would be absolutely absurd if the authorities were to grant approval for this. The Noetzie River ecologically forms an integral part of the adjoining unspoilt natural system of indigenous forest. Additionally, the catchment of the river is located almost entirely in State forest, comprised partially of indigenous forest and partially the MTO Kruisfontein Plantation, which both conform to international environmental standards and have been certified as such.

The catchment is environmentally relatively healthy and unpolluted, which is something that cannot be said of most of the river systems in this area. Both the catchment and the river are relatively small and with a low volume of water flow, and certainly not suited for abstraction of substantial water volumes.

It would be near criminal to try and sustain artificial environments like golf courses, for the benefit of a small number of affluent people, at the expense of a high-value natural environment like that of the Noetzie River.

BOTANICAL SOCIETY Save our ecosystems

Comments from Dr Bruce McKenzie, Executive Director, Botanical Society of SA

There is tremendous pressure on the ecosystems and processes that support our extremely small, scattered and vulnerable indigenous forests in South Africa and they should be given all the necessary consideration they deserve. There is no justification in my opinion for altering the conditions of approval for the Sparrebosch development to allow the estate to draw water from the Noetzie River.

The bottom line is that the authorities, who presumably applied their minds in setting the conditions of approval in the first place, should not alter their decision.

Our vulnerable ecosystems, particularly those of which we have precious few in virtually pristine condition, should be protected to avoid the “death by a thousand cuts” syndrome.

Photo's courtesy - Discovering SA - Henry Greyling