INCREASED water demand south of the Tugela River could have serious consequences for the Zululand region.

This is the view of concerned local professionals in the wake of the recent announcement of a proposed additional R20bn IFA Hotels & Resorts investment at Zimbali, adding to the R30bn already invested there.

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The proposed Zimbali Marina and Zimbali Country Estate will expand the footprint already made by the Zimbali Coastal Resort and Zimbali Lakes Resort projects.

And it will also heighten the competition for water from the Tugela, the source of supply to Goedertrouw Dam, which feeds Richards Bay industries as well as downstream agricultural and domestic users.

As developments along the KZN north coast threaten supply north of the Tugela, renewed conversation has begun around the formerly proposed storage dam close to the Vryheid catchment area.

As far back as January 1976, the minister of water affairs appointed a Committee of Inquiry into the Ecological Aspects of a Dam in the Mfolozi River, tasking the then Natal Parks, Game and Fish Preservation Board to undertake an environmental impact assessment of the effects of proposed dams in the Mfolozi River basin.

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