Plan to protect Lake Mzingazi
Environmentalists roll up sleeves to clean up Mzingazi Lake
WITH Richards Bay’s main source of drinking water under serious threat of sewage seepage, solid waste, climate change and sedimentation, the city municipality called in environmentalists to step in with a plan to save Lake Mzingazi from further deterioration.
Environmental consultancy CSIR was last year appointed to develop a Lake Management Plan (LMP) to ensure the dam is properly maintained on a long-term basis.
At a forum meeting held at the uMhlathuze Civic Centre on Wednesday, Project Leader Ismail Banoo said stakeholders and the project team have to set clear objectives to tackle the wide array of issues affecting the city’s freshwater supply.
‘The key issues impacting the lake includes inappropriate sewage disposal, agricultural return flow, solid waste disposal like building rubble and litter as well as recreational activities like illegal gill netting at the lake.’
‘We also have to plan ahead for incidents out of our hands like floods, droughts and other impacts of climate change.
‘The current cycles of dry and wet spells experienced in South Africa is expected to change drastically so we have to build in lake responses to the regional climate model predictions,’ said Banoo.
Stopping the sewage
To address the hazard of sewage disposal into the lake, Banoo said that basic services within the informal residential areas of Mandlanzini and Mzingazi have to be better prioritised.
‘The aged waterborne sewerage infrastructure within the informal residential areas should be upgraded and properly maintained.’
Should a quality monitoring programme still detect sewage and other contaminants in the water, Banoo said necessary steps will have to be taken against the wrongdoers.
Project Manager Samantha Naidoo added that CSIR hopes to enhance the ecological, historical and archaeological values of the area by 2016.
‘We must promote sustainable methods of environmental management of the lake system by 2015.
‘Our vision for the lake is a beautiful, tranquil Lake Mzingazi as the heart of an extraordinary part of SA.’
However, Naidoo noted that to achieve this, improved service delivery, economic development and education on the value of the lake in surrounding communities are crucial.
