Fearing a repeat of the fish deaths a month ago, residents of Venice Village in Hartebeespoort, North West scrambled to save them when they noticed big carp coming to the surface in the canals last Saturday morning. The fish seemed to be in various stages of distress, as was the case on April 11 when thousands of fish died at the nearby Ifafi Aquatic Club.

“It was something we had never seen before. All these huge carp were floating on the surface, seeming to gulp for oxygen. We immediately contacted the Ifafi Aquatic Club which brought us pumps to increase oxygen in the water. Then we got into the water to remove as much hyacinth as possible. A small number of fish had died already but after using the pumps, the rest of the fish seemed to recover,” says Venice Village resident Trevor Rheeder.

The Kormorant contacted the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) and a team from Magalies Water was sent out to investigate and perform water tests.

Following the mass fish deaths in Hartbeespoort Dam in April, DWS says they appointed Magalies Water to step in and develop a resource management and remediation plan for Hartbeespoort Dam.

A report released after the fact found the fish died due to extremely low oxygen levels in the water.

“The aim is to address the poor water quality in the upstream catchment of the dam which leads to the pollution of the dam as well as to minimise and control algae and hyacinth that compromise water quality and use of the dam,” says DWS spokesperson Wisane Mavasa.

She told the newspaper this week that Magalies Water has already started with the project, saying that hyacinth is being removed and other stakeholders will be involved to address the water quality and hyacinth infestation in the dam.

Magalies Water is expected to develop a short-term intervention plan to deal with hyacinth removal, review the algae management strategy and develop a catchment management plan to address water received into the dam.

The project will incorporate the Biological Control Programme managed by the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries (DFFE).