Water Resource Management

We are able to offer a range of water resource management related services. This ranges from site-based assessments of rivers and streams to inform development applications through to strategic catchment-level evaluations.

• Services offered:

  • • Water Use License Applications.
  • • Riparian zone delineation.
  • • etting buffers for rivers, wetlands and estuaries.
  • • Vegetation and fluvial geomorphological assessments.
  • • Aquatic Invertebrate Assessments (SASS5).
  • • Evaluating impacts of proposed developments on water resources.
  • • Integrating Sustainable Urban Drainage into development planning
  • • Identifying site-based mitigation measures to reduce impacts on water resources.
  • • Specialist input into reserve determination studies.
  • • Classification of water resources & setting resource quality objectives (RQOs) for water resources.
  • • Evaluating compliance against the Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) standard

• Selected Project Involvement:

  • • Specialist Aquatic Assessment for the N2 Wild coast toll highway – SANRAL / CCA Environmental.
  • • Pilot study to assess the feasibility of implementing the AWS standard on Mondi’s Zululand FMU – WWF / Mondi
  • • Pilot study as part of the development of a Green Infrastructure Strategy – City of JoBurg
  • • Development of procedures to determine and implement Resource Quality Objectives in order to implement the National Water Act – DWA.
  • • Specialist ecological screening of proposed dams in the Tina River and Kinaria River catchments – MBB Consulting Engineers.
  • • Mzimkhulu River Catchment Water Resource Study – IHI and wetland assessments – Aurecon (Pty) Ltd / INR.
  • • Specialist Aquatic Assessment for the proposed Somkhele Mine Expansion – Tendele Coal Mining / GCS
  • • Baseline Aquatic Assessment and biomonitoring for the Dube Trade Port Site – INR / ACSA
  • • Specialist Aquatic Assessment for the Zululand Anthracite Coilery - GCS
  • • Setting Resource Quality Objectives (RQOs) for wetlands in the Olifants catchment – DWA / INR
  • • Guideline for accreditation of IHI Practitioners: National Ecosystem Health Monitoring Programme – DWAF.
  • • State of the rivers reports for Sappi Forests Plantations – Sappi Forests (Pty)

• Research Publications:

  • • Department of Water Affairs, 2011: Procedures to Develop and Implement Resource Quality Objectives. Department of Water Affairs, Pretoria, South Africa. Authors: Chris Dickens, Catherine Pringle, Douglas Macfarlane

• Recent Presentations:

  • • 2013: SASAQS Conference: Buffers Workshop - A method for determining appropriate buffer zones for wetlands, rivers and estuaries
  • • 2010: National Wetland Indaba: Management of water resources using resource Quality Objectives.