Harvest rainwater - SA is told
2005-12-12 16:06
Nelspruit - Harvesting rainwater may be a better option to damming rivers to solve South Africa's water problems, says Philip Owen, an environmentalist at conservation NGO Geasphere.
He said more than 80% of rivers worldwide were dammed, but that this had not always solved water scarcity problems.
Geasphere is part of the Southern African Water Crisis Network, which advocates the sustainable use of southern Africa's water and soil resources.
Owen said every household should be informed, instead, about how to harvest rainwater and then be given the equipment to do so.
"More dams are not the answer to our water problems," he said.
He said dams blocked the natural movement of sediments and nutrients in rivers, causing South African rivers to silt up at an average of 2% each year.
This affected fish populations because fish were sensitive to silt load, he said.
Exotic timber a 'water hazard'
Apart from harvesting rainwater, he also suggested that households switched from flush-toilet systems to composting toilets to save water.
Removing exotic timber plantations from the upper catchment areas of river systems also would free up more water, he saidd.
About 75% of the 10 000ha of catchment area that fed the town of White River in Mpumalanga, for example, was covered by timber plantations, he said.
The town was being subjected to stiff water restrictions, including a moratorium on building new swimming pools.
A regional co-ordinator for the government's Working for Wetlands programme in the North West and Free State provinces, Eric Tshifhiwa Munzhedzi, expressed concern that more attention was being placed on damming rivers rather than conserving catchment areas.
"The millions of rands we are spending to construct such dams would be a good benefit if we spent it on rivers and catchment protection or anything related to this," he said.