018 UNDERGROUND WATER A KEY RESOURCE AND THE ASSOCIATED ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES IN NORTH WEST PROVINCE OF .

Margaret.Kalule-Sabiti* and Ralph Heath Co-author**

* T swelopele, 276 Oak Avenue, Randburg, PO Box 709, Sanlam Centre, Randburg 2125; Tel: 011 781 8031; Fax: 011 781 8030; email: [email protected] ** Zitholele Consulting Services, Thandani Park, Matuka Close, Halfway Gardens, Midrand P.O Box 6002, Halfway House, 1685; Tel 27 11 254 4901/2; Fax 27 11 315 3284; [email protected]

The objective of this paper is to raise a red flag regarding under ground water pollution and other environmental impacts which must be addressed immediately to prevent the current environmental trends from reaching critical stages in terms of the desired sustainable development.

The paper will show the response from the various Provincial Government agencies and national departments regarding the protection of water resources which is a National Resource (National Water Act (NWA) (Act No 36 of 1998).The paper will cite some of the ongoing and planned national and provincial water quality monitoring programmes largely initiated by Department of Water Affairs in cooperation of the national Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism and the North West Department of Agriculture Conservation and Environment. (Reference is made to the National Water Resources Strategy, DWAF 2004)

The North West province is largely a semi-arid area with very few rivers running annually. The province especially in the Western parts is experiencing rapid climate change which has resulted in desertification. The province therefore relies on underground water for both its domestic and industrial water requirements. The major industries that have environmental impacts on both surface and underground water are Mining and Agriculture in that order of importance. The economy of the province depends largely on mining.

The province has some of the fastest growing towns in the country such as Rustenburg in the largely mining district, Bojanala in the Eastern part of the province. (4).

Water specialists and the residents of the province, recently interviewed in various area of the province expressed underground water as a resource that need close immediate attention regarding environmental management. The Province is blessed with special physical features such as the ‘dolomitic eyes’ which need proper management and monitoring.

As expected the people in rural areas depend on boreholes for their water needs. There are other some economically influenced practices such as the use of pit latrines in most rural areas which pose environmental challenges regarding water pollution.

1 INTRO D UC TIO N Water is one of the North West Province’s (NW Province’s) critical and limiting natural resources. Four sources of water exist in the NW Province namely: ground water, surface water, im ported water and re-usable effluent. Although there are a few source surface water resources, the NW province has a large reservoir of subterranean water in the form of fractured aquifers and dolomitic compartments.

The importance of a clean and safe source ground water to the North West Province can never be over emphasized. The NW Province is composed predominantly of a rural population. This vulnerable sector of the community is wholly depended on groundwater as means of sustenance. In fact in many instances, ground water represents the only source of water at their disposal. Moreover more than 80% of rural communities in the NW Province depend on groundwater as a sole source of dom estic water. Vulnerable communities anywhere in the world rely on the state and its m echanism s to guard against the exploitation of valuable natural resources, in manner which disenfranchises these local populations from deriving their livelihoods in the same environment. Ground water resources are an important source of livelihood to a large population segm ent in the NW Province, yet despite their importance, groundwater resources remain under the threat of quantitative and qualitative degradation in the face of anthropogenic pressures

Groundwater or subterranean water resources occur in openings of rock material under the surface. These openings could be pores, cracks, fractures and dissolution cavities. In carbonate rocks (i.e. dolomitic in nature) large volumes of rock material can be dissolved forming subterranean caverns that can capture and store water. Groundwater is recharged by rainfall (mostly on annual basis) and stream infiltration. Groundwater can discharge through springs or through the base flow to surface water bodies as well as through evaporation in pans. In the North West Province, ground and surface water resources are integrated and interdependent. This is demonstrable by the fact that (the natural heritage and treasured) dolomitic eyes or springs are the sources of several major rivers which occur within the boundaries of the Province. Examples of these rivers include Groot Marico, Mooi and Molopo Rivers. (4)

Economic growth causing activities, although desirable, can be a driving force for the pressure on environmental resources, this without an efficient resource management approach. The mining sector, agriculture, industrial and property sectors of the NW Province economy have grown significantly since 2005. With this growth comes an associated resource dem and and population expansion leading to increased pressures on the water resources and environment in general. This can be exemplified by the intensification of economic activities in the Rusternberg, Britts and Litchenburg districts over the past three years leading to these districts now accounting for more than 50% of total manufacturing production of the Northwest Province (Economic Development and Industrialisation Plan for the NW Province, 2001).

Mitigatory actions which ensure that good waste management policies and procedures are implemented can provide a vehicle for ameliorating the negative pressure on resources, and thereby driving sustainable economic growth. The National Water Act 36 of 1998 (NWA) has been one of such key national interventions. The instrument requires that monitoring of water resource quality be an integral part of water resources management in South Africa. The National Water Resources Strategy (NWRS), a supporting mechanism of the NWA, recognises that no single water monitoring program can lead to a comprehensive expression of the “state of water environment”. Indeed the state of water resources is intertwined with the essential dependency and assim ilation of water resources, with various other com ponents of the environm ent. The need for implementing and maintaining different monitoring systems to provide information on different aspects of water resource quality is confirmed by the reality that several water resource quality monitoring programm es currently exist both in the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF) and in several other institutions involved in water resource managem ent.

Practically all water resource quality monitoring in SA has been funded and undertaken by the Department of Water Affairs (DWAF) in the past. Although staff at DWAF’s Regional offices handled most of the actual data acquisition a few DWAF head office directorates (HO) performed virtually all the data management and storage, and information generation and dissemination functions. These Head office directorates were responsible for the designing and maintaining most of the resource quality monitoring programmes. It is not surprising therefore that the bulk of the water resources quality information currently being produced in SA resides with monitoring programmes operated by DWAF HO. The new institutional arrangements have decentralized the water management portfolio from central government to provincial, inevitably creating a demand for relevant and efficient data resources therewith.

2 OVERVIEW OF THE DRIVING FORCES BEHIND WATER CONTAMINATION AND RELATED ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES IN THE NORTH WEST PROVINCE

T he general land cover pattern of the NW Province as derived from ENPAT (2001) is indicated in Figure 1. The dominant land cover types and their potential water quality impacts are summarised in Table 1.

Mining is one of the key economic sectors of the economy of the NW Province. In 1994 the province produced the third largest amount of gold, at 139.2 tons (24% of the total). The NW Province produces 70% of the world’s platinum emanating primarily from the Rustenburg platinum mines. The commonly exploited minerals in the NW Province are gold ( – Orkney – - (KOSH) and Randfontein); platinum (Rustenburg area), chrome (east of Sun City, north of Sun City, Rustenburg) and alluvial diamonds (central to southern section of the province).

Table 1: Potential Water Contamination associated with different Land Uses

Potential Soil Contamination / Land Use Locality Degradation

Rangeland Western North West Province Erosion

Central and eastern North West Province – Erosion and runoff containing T aung irrigation schem e, Brits, , Cultivated land excess salts, nutrients and Rustenburg, Lichtenburg, and pesticides, low pH, nitrates Coligny districts Gold mines Middle Vaal (Klerksdorp – Orkney – Salts, metals (aluminium, iron and Hartbeesfontein - Stilfontein (KOSH) manganese), radioactivity

Mooi River (Randfontein)

Upper Elands and Crocodile River (Krugersdorp and Randfontein)

Platinum Rustenburg Salts, metals (aluminum, iron and mines manganese)

Chrome mines North and north east of province Metals (iron, chrome)

Alluvial Central to west NW Province River diversions, sediments, oils diamonds and grease Mankwe Odi 2, , Klerksdorp, Salts, metals (aluminium, chrome, Mining, Potchefstroom , Schweizer-Reneke, iron and manganese), toxic quarries and Ventersdorp, Wolmaranstad and Rustenburg chem icals (arsenic, mercury, lead, associated districts, north and north east areas and alluvial chlorine) loss of land use, erosion, plants / works diamonds in central to western areas solid and effluent waste

Pomfret, , Schweizer-Reneke, Light industry, sewage disposal Bloemhof, Potchefstroom, Delareyville, Urban * (nutrients, microbial contaminants), Mmbatho, Zeerust, Klerksdorp, Rustenburg and l an d fill si tes Brits,

Metals, oils, grease, organic and Industrial Brits inorganic chemicals

• Note: The areas of urban development are generally closely associated with the mining industry and associated service industries. Thus nodes of potential contamination occur at all the main towns and cities in the Province. M ining in general places significant quality and dem and pressure s on the Province's water resources. Most m ines need large volumes of water for production and also discharge of waste products as effluents into rivers and other surface waters. Mining wastes, such as overburden, waste rock or slimes all have a negative impact on the aquatic environment. Mining at depth cannot be conducted safely below dolomite aquifers, and the standard practice of the industry is to dewater such aquifers for safe operations. M any local aquifers have become depleted because of this. Mining and associated industries also have an impact on the water resource through employees' usage.

Often the mines have associated "mining villages" with own sewage and water provision infrastructure. These associated services are not part of a mining entity's core business and may operate under severe budgetary constraints. Depletion of surface water resources within the Province as a result of mining activities is difficult to differentiate from the depletion of the ground water, as information on the individual components of a mine's water balance are generally not measured. An example of the depletion of the aquifers in the vicinity of deep mining operations is in the Klerksdorp area. Other environmental challenges posed by mining activities include air pollution, land and soil degradation, and biodiversity losses. (4)

Agricultural activities, the second most important of economic activities, are mainly concentrated to the eastern wetter part of the NW Province, and are characterised primarily by livestock farming and cropping, with limited forest patches. The largest percentage of land is used as grazing land, the main portion of which is located in the western segment in the Vryburg region. M ixed farming and cereal cropping constitutes the prime cultivated section in the east. Cultivation has seen the irrigation industry becoming the biggest single water user in the North West Province. The pressure on the water supply from dry-land crop production, as well as stock and game farming, is insignificant compared with the demand for irrigation water. Irrigation farming in the NW is catalysed by two factors: a ready supply of irrigation water and the availability of good arable soil, due to underlying calcium water-rich areas (a consequence of the dolomitic based geology). The successful cultivation further drives the demand to use ground water for irrigation. Furthermore a considerable quantity of the total area under irrigation uses very water-wasteful flood irrigation methods. Another negative effect of irrigation is the washout of fertiliser and agrochemicals into the receiving watercourse.

Poverty and unemployment affect the agricultural sector directly in terms of strategic role as a provider of employment and as a producer of ample quantities of nutritionally-balanced food at affordable prices. This is due to the fact that rural areas are less developed, have fewer job opportunities, and therefore, their populations rely heavily on agricultural activities for everyday living. This has been true for the NW Province. Agriculture, while triggering major econom ic growth, can im pact the environment negatively through land transformations, soil degradation, soil water and air pollution, changes in biodiversity and ecosystems. With economic growth comes the challenge posed by the resulting population growths which in turn results in increased pressures on the ecosystem.

The manufacturing industry contributes towards urbanisation and expansion of existing urban areas. This has been true for the NW Province where increased investment has seen the expansion of districts like Rustenburg, and Garankuwa. These industries exert pressure through the demand for water, the requirement for labour living close to the place of work and through discharging a variety of waste products into the environment that result in an increased pollution. The result is a greater impact on the marine and terrestrial environment in general.

3 OVERVIEW OF INTERVENTIONS FOR WATER RESOURCE PROTECTION

3.1 National Policy and Legal Infrastructure There is an old and well-proven management principle that states, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it” (National Water Resources Strategy, DWAF 2004). This principle applies as much to water resource management as it applies to managing any other kind of human endeavour. This principle is recognised explicitly in Chapter 14 of the National Water Act (Act No. 36 of 1998, NWA), which requires monitoring of water resource quality to be an integral part of water resources management in South Africa. The NWA mandates the Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry manage water resources through the establishment of national monitoring systems that monitor, record, assess and disseminate information regarding, amongst many other things, the quality of water resources.

Figure 1: The general land cover as derived from ENPAT (2001) for the NW Province

Although the NWA refers to m onitoring sy stems in the plural, it does not specify exactly, from a systems design perspective, what these national monitoring systems should be, or provide all the other details required to specify, design and implement such monitoring systems. The National Water Resources Strategy (NWRS) recognises that no single monitoring programme can lead to a comprehensive expression of the “state of the water environment.” The need for implementing and maintaining d i ffe rent m oni to ri ng syste m s to p ro vid e in fo rma tio n o n di ffe re nt asp e cts o f wate r re so urce qu ali ty i s confi rm ed by th e re ali ty that several water resource quality monitoring programmes exist currently both within the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF) and in several other institutions involved in water resources management.

For many people, and not only in South Africa, the phrase “water resource quality monitoring” means collecting and storing data related to the quality of water resources. Since the early 1970’s those involved in conducting, but also particularly funding long term monitoring, identified one of their biggest problems as being the “data-rich but information-poor syndrome”. In other words the situation that their monitoring activities usually tend to generate large volumes of data that apparently find little application in the practice of water resource m anagem ent. However, at the same time they faced continuous complaints from water resource planners and managers about the lack of relevant water resource quality information to support their planning and management information needs. This lack of relevant information is bad enough, but is compounded by the fact that at the same time masses of data were and still are being collected requiring significant time, effort and cost, seemingly without the expected benefits being derived from it.

The “data-rich but information-poor syndrome” led several countries to fundamentally rethink the purpose of water resource quality monitoring, and consequently the process being used to design monitoring programmes. The purpose of monitoring was therefore redefined as: “Delivering the management information about water resource quality they require, to water resource managers, planners and other stakeholders”. This statement of the purpose of monitoring may sound obvious. However, its implications for the design and maintenance of monitoring programmes are profound.

T he new institutional setup for water resource management in SA has profound implications for how water resource quality monitoring in SA will be conducted: • Many of the water resource management functions previously performed by DWAF as a central government department are now being performed by CMA’s and other water managem ent institutions (or DWAF regional offices acting on their behalf). Consequently these institutions become primary users of most resource quality information that was previously only required by DWAF for performing its water resource functions • CMA’s and other water managem ent institutions are expected to operate the monitoring programm es required to produce the water resource quality information.

Therefore, the role of DWAF HO (as a central government department) need for water resource quality information is likely to be reduced to: • Information required for International/ National level water resources strategic and developm ent planning. • Information required for performing its custodianship role in other words auditing conformance to set a strategic resource quality objectives agreed with the different water management institutions. • Information it has to provide to other national government departments such as DEAT to enable them to perform their roles such as in reporting from time to time on the state of the environment. • Information it has agreed in terms of international agreements e.g. for South Africa’s participation in the UNEP / GEMS Water Monitoring Programme, Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pesticides (POP’s) and other related Multilateral Environmental Agreements.

One has to recognise that water resource quality information is needed at different levels of spatial and tem poral resolution depending largely on the nature of the management function for which the information is required. For example, the information required for developing / revising of the NWRS would usually be at a much coarser temporal and spatial resolution than, for example, the information required to determine whether a specific effluent discharge meets the conditions of the license under which it is allowed to be discharged (Figure 2).

The proposed strategic or overarching framework is based on, in the first instance, taking a functional view of monitoring, and to standardise the terminology used within this framework as much as possible. The model is shown in Figure 3. Its main features are a number of monitoring programmes that all have the same functional components.

Different monitoring programmes are likely to be able to share, to a significant degree, the sam e logistics and technical infrastructure required to perform their data acquisition function. Similarly, various monitoring programmes should, to a large degree, be able to share the same data management and storage infrastructure. The major distinction between different monitoring programmes should, therefore, be in the types of information products they produce in response to the requirements of information users.

Figure 2: Diagram to illustrate that different information requirements exist at different water management levels ranging from the most detailed information (on spatial and temporal scales) being required at the local level less detailed information being required at the national / strategic lev el

The proposed framework, based on a functional description of monitoring, is also, as shown in Figure 3, information user centric. In other words, the design of any monitoring programme has to start with specifying very rigorously what information requirements it is designed to satisfy. From there, the data acquisition and data management and storage components are designed.

The strategic framework for monitoring programmes is being developed because it could be used to clearly define the institutional responsibility for different portfolios (groupings) of monitoring programmes, such as national programmes, regional (cluster) programmes, CMA programmes, Water Board programmes, etc. Therefore, it is proposed that, in addition to the functional model, the strategic framework also incorporates the concept of portfolios of monitoring programmes based on the water management institutions primarily responsible for a given portfolio of programmes

Graphically, the framework will now look like the model displayed in Figure 4. It now becomes a matter of policy and negotiation between the different water management institutions, operating from the local to the strategic level, to decide which monitoring programmes belong in which portfolio. Decisions about the allocation of monitoring programmes to different portfolios are not trivial. The implications are that from that point onwards the institution having the primary responsibility fo r a particular portfolio would be responsible for the funding and management of all the monitoring programmes in such a portfolio. The NWA specifically mandates the Minister to establish national monitoring systems that monitor, record, assess and disseminate information on water resources.

Figure 3: Functional model for water resource quality modelling as proposed in the NW Prov ince Ambient Environmental Monitoring Programme Report (2006)

Figure 4: Proposed strategic framework for water resource quality monitoring expanded to include portfolios of monitoring programmes, based on the water management institution responsible for it (as proposed in the NW Province Ambient Environmental Monitoring Programme Report 2006)

3.2 National Water Resource Protection Programmes

In order to comply with this requirement of the NWA and with Chapter 3 of the National Water Resources Strategy, DWAF has developed and is implementing the following national water quality monitoring program mes: • Chemical monitoring, which has nationwide coverage been underway for many years. • Biomonitoring that has successfully been implemented nationally as part of the River Health Program me. • Microbial monitoring of surface waters which has been implemented since 2002 and is concentrating on hot spots nationally. • Microbial monitoring of groundwater (a design and prototype implementation plan has been completed for the National Microbiological Monitoring Program me, NM MP). • Eutrophication monitoring (a design was published in 2002 and implementation has begun for the National Eutrophication M onitoring Programme, NEM P). • Radioactivity monitoring (National Radioactivity Monitoring Programme, NRMP, Implementation Manual complete and pilot scale testing started in April 2006). • T oxicity monitoring (National Toxicity Monitoring Programm e, NTM P, Implementation Manual complete and pilot scale testing started in April 2006).

There are several other projects that are currently underway that could assist with the future understanding and monitoring of the ambient monitoring programme of the NWP. These include the following:

• CSIR Croc Marico Freshwater Protection programme is missing, but central for the development of the monitoring programme (e.g. refer to preliminary map produced by CSIR with special features/pristine or special river stretches etc); • Regional DWAF Water Services Sector Forum and borehole monitoring project (Cuban project);

It is important to understand the roles of the CMA with regards to monitoring and compare this to the objectives of the NWP DACE Ambient Monitoring Programme. There is potentially a large overlaps between these monitoring programmes. The objectives of each programme must be clearly defined so as to reduce any potential duplication. It is recommended that the both these monitoring programmes use the same hardware, software and that they share a common data base and reporting procedure. DWAF’s mandate as custodian of the nation’s water resources should be recognised and where possible their monitoring programmes should be enhances so as to allow the NWP DACE to report on the status of the environment.

3.3 Surface water quality monitoring in the NW Province

T here are many different surface water quality-monitoring sites in the NW Province as can be seen from Table 2 and Figure 5 which indicate the water quality monitoring sites in the NW Province. The water quality samples and data in the NW Province are currently collected by the following organisations. • DWAF-HO as part of their National Monitoring Programmes • DWAF - RO as part of the a routine catchment monitoring programme • Catchment Forums which are precursors to Catchment Management Agencies, for example the Crocodile-Groot Marico, Schoon Spruit and Koekermoer Spruit, and Wonderwaterfontein. In essence, these catchment forums are currently still the responsibility of the DWAF-RO’s. • Local authorities or municipalities (mainly compliance samples for Waste Water Treatment Works and factory effluents). These include Pretoria, Johannesburg, Potchefstroom, Mafikeng/Mmabatho and Klerksdorp. • M idvaal Water company • Industry (depending on industrial discharge permit or licence) • M ining (depending on industrial discharge permit or licence)

DWAF’s Re source Quality Services (RQS) have a large database that is currently called the Water Management System (WMS). The current water quality monitoring points in the NW Province on the DWAF monitoring programme is indicated in Table 2 and Figure 5. It is not easy to determine the frequency at which each monitoring point is monitored unless each sam pling point is interrogated individually. The variables m onitored per sam pling point cluster are indicated in Table 4.2 and detailed in Appendix A to E. Table 4.3 indicates what the parameters m easured indicate with regards to water quality.

The WMS is currently only used by a limited number of regions within DWAF (such as Gauteng and Mpumalanga). This facility is a powerful data storage facility that has a well developed system of protocols for data entry. Due to the laborious protocols and the inability to capture or inter phase with most databases the system is not user friendly when setting up a monitoring point. The data entry inter phase in WMS is currently cumbersome (does not link with Excel or other databases and hence data needs to be entered directly into WMS). The system is also housed on a mainframe in Pretoria which currently means that the Regional Offices are dependant a band width, telephone communication etc so as to access this system. This inaccessibility of the system has resulted in the regional offices not using the systems and having their own data base of water quality. The regional offices are under serious capacity constraints, and consequently, much of the data collected is not currently being collated or entered into databases. Much of this data is in the form of paper reports. However, once the monitoring points and programmes have been set up the data can be assessed and reports generated.

Table 2: Number Of Surface Water Quality Monitoring Sites Per Drainage Region Drainag No. of Rivers Dam/ Canals Mine Sew ag Portable Pan Pipeline e region Sites Barrage Shaft e Wa te r Works Purification Works 132 87 18 21 1 4 1 A C 48 30 10 3 1 3 1 D 11 3 2 6

Figure 5: Water Quality Monitoring Points in the NW Province

3.4 Flow Monitoring Data for the NW Province The most consistent data that the NW Province DWAF has is the flow data ().

Most flow records are collected by means of recorder charts and data loggers at a series of flow measuring weirs (Table 3, Figure 6, Appendix A). Reservoir readings are inserted daily on reservoir return forms and used for backup purposes. The reservoir m onitoring team usually also takes water quality samples at the same time. Depending on the frequency of flow record changes the monitoring team can also be used to collected water quality samples.

DWAF has a few trained data collectors who collect the data on a varying frequency depending on the type of flow recording apparatus (Contact person is Christopher Thombeni at DWAF Boskop offices). After collecting the data, it is evaluated, p ro ce ssed a n d fo rwa rde d to Hea d O ffice wh o ca ptu re s th e d ata on th e HY S syste m s (Fra n ci nah , at Hea d O ffi ce). T hi s da ta can be either requested from DWAF or accessed via the DWAF website. The text format data needs to be transposed into Excel. At this stage these monitoring points are not linked to the SADC HYCOS programme.

Table 3: Number of flow measuring stations in the different drainage regions of the NW Province.

Drainage No. WQM River Dams/ Sprin Dam Dam Pipeline Canals region of s Reservo g Compone pipeline (lined @ Sites ir nt river s @ earthen) canals 67 4 13 17 7 9 18 1 2 A C 24 0 7 6 0 0 10 0 1 D 10 1 2 2 2 1 0 0 1

Water: WQM = Water Quality Monitoring sites

Figure 6: Distribution of the DWAF Flow Measuring Sites within the NW Province

The flow data is collected in varying formats and it requires that a trained statistician with knowledge of hydrology undertakes the required manipulation of this data for layman uses.

The challenges with the different sets of water quality monitoring programmes are as follows: • The programmes focus mainly on surface water monitoring • many different people are used for sampling (not all have received training) • different analytical laboratories are used (not all are accredited or have appropriate Good laboratory Practice) hence the information generated is not quality assured. • data generated are stored either in paper format reports on various databases that are not all readily accessible to the public.

Ideally all the water quality data should be stored on a central national database or provincial water quality-monitoring record. DWAF’s Water Management System (WMS) should be managed on a regional basis and the appropriate re sources allocated to make sure that all the available data is entered and quality controlled.

3.5 Borehole Monitoring Data in the NW Province

There are many boreholes that are sampled in the NW Province (Table 4 and Figure 7) and two major aquifers. According to NW D WAF there are two people from their department who undertake the entire NW Province borehole sampling (Theo Moolman and Mishack Garagae). The boreholes in Botselo, Sedibeng and Magalies are monitored monthly for bacteriology and several physical parameters, while a full analysis is undertaken once a year. These sites and the analysis undertaken is indicated in Table 5. This water quality data (included borehole water levels) is available on a National Borehole Water Quality monitoring Programme of DWAF HO (Mandi Smith and Desiree Hector).

Table 4: List of water quality monitoring boreholes per drainage region in the NW Province Drainage region No. of Sites A 18 C 28 D 20

Table 5: Variables analysed per water quality monitoring borehole.

Variables Al-Diss-Water Mn-Diss-Water As-Diss-Water Mo-Diss-Water B-Diss-Water NH4-N-Diss-Water Ba-Diss-Water NO3+NO2-N-Diss-Water Be-Diss-Water Na-Diss-Water

Ca-Diss-Water Ni-Diss-Water

Cd-Diss-Water PO4-P-Diss-Water

Cl-Diss-Water Pb-Diss-Water

Co-Diss-Water SO4-Diss-Water

Cr-Diss-Water Si-Diss-Water

Cu-Diss-Water Sr-Diss-Water

DMS-Tot-Water TAL-Diss-Water

EC-Phys-Water TEMP-Phys-Water F-Di ss- Wa te r Ti -Di ss- Wa te r Fe-Diss-Water V-Diss-Water Hg-Diss-Water Zn-Diss-Water K-Diss-Water Zr-Diss-Water Mg-Diss-Water pH-Diss-Water

Figure 6 indicates the locality of the population in the NW Province and the locality of the DWAF Water Quality Borehole Monitoring Sites.

Figure 7: Distribution of the DWAF Water Quality Borehole Monitoring Sites and major aquifers within the NW Province

3.6 MINES And Environmental Management Program Reports in the NW Province Most of the abandoned and dormant mines are gold, diamonds, chrome and platinum. It is important to note that there are abandoned asbestos mines in the north of the province which have a high environmental and human health liability. Historically the abandoned mines (before 1956) become the states responsibility and the Department of Mineral and Energy Affairs is currently undertaking a national inventory on abandoned mines in order to prioritise hot spots for intentions against pollution problems.

The active mines have submitted Environment Management Programme Reports (EMPR’s) to the local DME office (Klerksdorp and Johannesburg). In these EMPR’s a monitoring programme is committed to and is the responsibility of the mine to undertake. Regional offices of DWAF have the responsibility to audit the compliance of the mines. The mines with large discharges have effluent disposal permits or licences that also require the mine to monitor and supply DWAF with compliance reports on a regular basis.

The water quality monitoring programmes associated with mines compliance is not easy to access and availability varies from regional office to regional office. For example the Free State DWAF RO has a good set of data for the KOSH area in an Excel data base. The NW Province of DWAF RO does not have this data readily available. Furthermore the mines have vastly varied compliance to the prescribed monitoring with the larger gold, chrome and platinum mines complying with regulations.

3.7 Solid waste disposal sites in the NW Province

The solid waste sites in the NW Province can be accessed from DWAF HO and the locality of these sites are indicated in Figure 8. These sites are regulated in terms of Section 20(5)(b) of the Environment Conservation Act 73 of 1989 – The Control and Management of General Communal and General Small Waste Disposal Sites’. These are regulations that were promulgated in February 2002 (GN91, GG23053 of 1 February 2002) and regulate general comm unal and general sm all waste disposal sites.

General com munal waste disposal site (GCB - and GCB+) means a disposal site: • which receives only general waste; • which receives less than 25 tonnes of general waste per day; • (which does not have any of the fatal flaws as set out in the Minimum Requirements for Waste Disposal by Landfill (2nd ed, 1998) published by DWAF.

General small waste disposal sties with negative climatic water balance in these directions means a disposal site: • which receives only general waste; • where no significant leachate will be generated in terms of the climatic water balance in order that a leachate management system is not required; • which receives more than 25 tonnes but less that 150 tonnes of general waste per day; • which does not have any of the fatal flaws as set out in the Minimum Requirements for Waste Disposal by Landfill (2nd ed, 1998) published by DWAF.

3.8 Waste Water T reatm ent Works

The location of the database on Waste Water Treatment Works (WWTW) in the NW Province is unclear.

Figure 8: Solid Waste Disposal Sites in the NW Province

3.9 River Health Monitoring Programme in the NW Province

Internationally biological monitoring is seen as a more cost effective manner to determine the sustainability or health of an aquatic ecosystem (cheaper than the classical chemical monitoring). If the biological monitoring aspects of a catchment m onitoring programme indicate that the organism s have been impacted then the more typical chemical water quality monitoring can be used to determine what the impacts were and who was responsible.

The River Health Programme (RHP) is a national programme coordinated by DWAF, DEAT, the Water Research Commission (WRC) and CSIR. The RHP is designed to monitor the condition of rivers in South Africa using standardised biomonitoring techniques.(5)

Today the RHP is a co-operative venture with participation from many government and non-government organizations, including provincial government departments, local authorities, universities, conservation agencies and private sector organizations. All of these organizations have a stake in collecting data and making information available on the state of the rivers in their area of responsibility.

Biomonitoring involves the use of living organism s as biological indicators of ecosystem or environm ental “health”. Animals and plants provide a long-term integrated reflection of water quality and quantity, habitat quality and other environmental conditions. Various indices of ecosystem health are being monitored in the River Health Programme icluding fish, aquatic invertebrates, aquatic habitats, plants, water flow, water quality and river channel conditions.

During the initial few years, the emphasis was on research and development of the basic monitoring protocols. From 1996, the programme became operational when a number of provincial implementation teams started applying the RHP design. Today, the RHP is a co-operative venture with participants from many government and non-government organizations, including provincial government departments, local authorities, universities, conservation agencies and private sector organizations. All of these organizations have a stake in collecting data and making information available on the state of the rivers in their areas of responsibility. Through collaborating and combining their resources, a joint implementation team can achieve more than would be possible for any of the organizations on their own. (5)

In the NW Province DACE is responsible for the River Health Programme. It was started in 2000/2001 under the cham pionship of Dr. M. Kalule-Sabiti and M r S. M angold. The current River Health Cham pion for NW Province is T Boshoff from DACE. The SoE (2004) report was used to determine how the list of current NW Province indicators was complied with in the NW Province. (6)

The rivers that are currently included RHP of the NW Province are • Groot Marico River • Hex River near Rustenburg • Elands River near Rustenburg - 2006 • Crocodile River downstream of Hartebeespoort Dam - 2006 • Mooi River near Potchefstroom - 2006 • Schoon Spruit near Ventersdorp to Orkney • Harts River from Lichtenburg to Spitzkop Dam (future) • T he section of the forming the boundary between the Free • Upper Vaal and Mooi – 2006 • The dolomitic eyes or springs such as the Molopo, Groot Marico, • Schoon Spruit, Malmane and Wondergat Eyes.

T he frequency of monitoring the fish is once per year, while SASS5, habitat (HQI) and water quality are all monitored twice per year. The water quality analysis is currently undertaken by RQS (DWAF) and entered onto the WMS. The results of the full bio-monitoring assessment per site are entered into the National Rivers Database.

The NW Province River Health Programme is registered on the National Rivers database. Data is captured onto this database, reports produced for internal review and the implementation plan for the NW Province is still to be developed.

T he DWAF (Free State office) also has a bio-monitoring programme at four sites in the Schoon Spruit. These sites are monitored for macro invertebrates four times per year and for fish twice a year.

Furthermore the NW Province regional DWAF has included bio-monitoring into 40 waste discharge exemptions (8). The success of this approach to management waste discharges is dependant on the consistent application of the toxicity tests as well as the discharges complying with their reporting compliance in accordance to their licenses or permits.

In the Crocodile Marico Water Management area more than half of the total water use comprises urban, industrial and mining use, approximately a third is used by irrigation and the remainder of the water requirements are for rural water supplies and power generation.

3.10 Programs for Wetlands Conservation in the NW Province

There is currently no wetland monitoring programme in the NW Province. The Wetland Action Group is currently developing a new business plan which will start with Barbers Pan and the Ventersdorp Eye (8).

The RAMSAR (1994) definition of a wetland is "areas of marsh, fen, peatland or water, whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt” Included in this definition are pans, springs, seeps, bogs, mires, marshes and riverine wetlands. Wetlands are considered to be one of the most threatened habitats world wide. They result from unique aquatic and terrestrial conditions and consequently they possess ecosystems that are among the most complex in the world. Due to the variable hydrological processes in wetlands, the organisms that inhabit these areas tend to exhibit extensive variation. Wetlands play an important role in natural filtration and purification of water as well as providing habitat to waterfowl and breeding grounds for a number of migrant bird species.

The national wetland classification system divides South Africa into several regions. The North West Province is part of the Western Plateau of the Plateau Wetland Group which has the greatest concentration of pans in the country. They are mostly endorheic pans, which are closed with no outlet and an average size of 8 ha (from a total of 636 pans located in the Western Plateau). Several of these pans in the North West Province are located on the watershed between the Vaal and the Limpopo ri ve r syste m s an d o n the Gha ap Pl a te au , whil e th e remainder of these pans are located in the area drained by the Harts river sy ste m.

South Africa has 16 declared RAMSAR sites in total of which only one is in the North West Province. Barberspan is unique in that it is a large perennial grass pan (covering an area of some 1050ha). The pan was proclaimed as a natural reserve in 1954 and it is a permanent fresh water lake. It is an important stopover for many species of migrating birds. Barbers Pan is the only locality in South Africa where the pintail Anas acuta has been recorded. Several waterfowl species breed in the wetland. Seven endangered bird species and two endangered mammal species occur here. Barbers Pan also supports a rich plankton community.

There are approximately 40 major wetland areas within the North West Province (4). They are composed of riverine wetlands, dolomitic eyes, palustrine wetlands and endorheic wetlands or pans of which Barbers Pan, a Ramsar site, is the Province's largest. Barbers Pan, situated 15 km north-east of Delareyville, is a large permanent shallow alkaline lake. The pan is approximately 2 000 ha in area and has an average depth of 10 m with a catchment area of 30 km2. The pan is considered to have a high ecological status and is especially important for waterfowl for breeding and feeding. When surrounding pans dry up, Barbers Pan becomes a significant habitat in the region. These wetlands are usually not permanent, like those fed by dolomite springs. The wetland occurring at Barber Pan is one of the only perennial pan wetland systems in the Province.

Many wetlands have been lost or seriously degraded world-wide, with some 50% of known wetlands have been lost to agricultural and urban "reclamation" during the twentieth century. The remaining wetlands in North West Province are considered to be ecologically sensitive areas, particularly the dolomitic eyes, namely the Molopo and Ventersdorp Eyes (4).

Unpredictable seasonal changes lead to a range in physical and chemical properties of the substrata and water in pans, such as major changes in salinity. When inundated, the temporary pans are inhabited by a variety of aquatic invertebrate species, the majority of which are highly specialised and adapted to the conditions in these pans. Fish are only present in the few perennial pans. Most of the fish has been introduced, except for Barbers Pan, which has indigenous species. Birds use the pans for feeding, drinking, roosting, moulting and breeding (8). The salt pans at Delareyville attract thousands of flamingos in summer.

T here are two other smaller non-perennial pans in the vicinity of Barbers Pan, nam ely Leeupan and Gelukspan. Riverine wetlands occur in the Mooi and Harts rivers and at the different eyes of the Molopo River catchments, as well as those of the Schoon and Bamboes spruits. Several large wetlands occur near Koster, one of which forms the source of the Elands River. A few smaller stream fringe wetlands occur along streams feeding into the Limpopo system. Artificial wetlands have been created on the sides of som e of the reservoirs in the province. Threats to wetlands in order of im portance are agricultural development, road building, mining and industrial development. Other threats to these wetlands are the mining of peat and calcrete for fertilizer in the Schoon Spruit (Ventersdorp Eye), Mooi River and to a lesser extent in the Harts River system (4).

4 THE WAY FORWARD

Very Little data collection is being done on a regional level in the NW Province. Currently there is limited information regarding the ground water toxicity and the percentage of non-compliances with DWARF guidelines. Furthermore there is no database of ground water pollution incidences which would service various national and even multilateral reporting requirements (e.g. The Community Right To Know Principle enshrined in the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change). Very little information is presently accessible on ground water radio activity in selected underground rivers and compartments. Such information is required particularly as in put into other programs such as indicators to develop for the State of the Environment reports. The following variables are currently not being monitored on a routine basis although representing information needs of the State of the Environment reports: • Surface water toxicity • Fa e cal coli fo rms • Surface water radioactivity • Gro u nd wa te r to xi ci ty • Ground water radio-activity The reason why these variables are not routinely undertaken is due to their high cost, difficulties in field collection and sensitivity of the results.

No cooperative agreements exist currently, to our knowledge, between various organisations such as DWAF, Local Government, mining houses, etc to collect data and supplied it in the required format so that the NW Province can undertake the required ambient monitoring programme.

The role out of the Catchment Management Agencies (CMA) as part of the National Water Act (Act 36 of 1998) should result in regionalised databases of at least water quality and River Health Programme data. For exam ple the Crocodile-Groot M arico CM A (under developm ent) and Middle Vaal CMA (only planned for 2009) will enable a regionalised data base to be developed.

T he NW Province is in the process of developing and implementing an am bient ground water monitoring program that would be designed to: • Provide a central database of all water quality data pertaining to the NW Province and institutional mechanisms and arrangements for cooperation between the existing organisations currently collecting information; • Provide a ground water quality monitoring programme whose sampling frequency is varied. • Provide for apportioned responsibilities for sampling, analytical facilities, data capture, report and associated budget. • Provide an overview of the groundwater conditions in the North West Province and pinpoint “Hot Spots” as described in Table 6 below; • Provide an overview of the groundwater conditions in major aquifers in the North West Province; • Establish baselines of water quality within the major aquifers in the North West Province; • Identify trends in groundwater quality in the major aquifers in the North West Province; and • Evaluate the long-term effectiveness of Water Act program activities in protecting groundwater resources in the North We st Pro vi n ce.

Table 6 Hot spots recommended for surface and groundwater monitoring Hot spot area Rivers Current monitoring Recommended additional programme sampling Klerksdorp Middle Vaal DWAF RO (Free State) Increase borehole monitoring in Koekermoerspruit M idvaal Kanana Simmer & jack *Radioactivity in AngloVaal-Ashanti Koekerm oerspuit and Middle Local municipalities Vaal RHP Free State * Link onto existing monitoring programme WWTW collate data from Municipalities Ventersdorp Schoonspruit DWAF RO (Free State) Wetland m onitoring required for Local municipalities Schoonspruit eye RHP Free State * Link onto existing monitoring programme Potchefstroom M ooi DWAF RO (Gauteng) Radioactivity in Mooi and Wonderfonteinspruit Local municipalities Wonderwaterfontein RHP NW * Link onto existing monitoring Wonderfonteinspruit river programme forum Borehole monitoring increase coverage Mafikeng Molopo DWAF RO (Gauteng) * Link onto existing monitoring Groot Marico Local municipalities programme RHP NW Borehole monitoring increase coverage Hot spot area Rivers Current monitoring Recommended additional programme sampling Lichtenburg Local municipalities * Link onto existing monitoring RHP NW programme Borehole monitoring increase coverage Rustenburg DWAF RO (Gauteng) Borehole monitoring increase Local municipalities coverage Platinum mines RHP NW Brits Crocodile DWAF RO (Gauteng) Borehole monitoring increase Elands Local municipalities coverage Pienaars RHP NW Hex S terkstro o m Vryburg Harts Local municipalities Borehole monitoring increase RHP NW coverage

Pomfret Local municipalities Borehole monitoring increase coverage

Table 7: Recommended sampling frequency in the locations associated with Hot Spots

Contaminants Micro- Toxicity Chemistry Radioactivity Nutrients Physical River to be biology (pH, DO, Health monitored EC) Programme Mines M M M Q Industrial M D M** M Q wastes Boreholes 6 6 6 Y 6 6 Where: D = DAILY, M = MONTHLY, 6 = SIX MONTHLY, Y = YEARLY, Q – QUARTERLY, ** = Organics, soaps, oils and grease

Table 8: Recommended water quality parameters to be monitored in NWP Hot Spots

Pollution Microbiology Toxicity Chemistry Radioactivity Nutrients River sources Health Programme Mines** radioactivity Total and SASS, orthophosphates, diatoms, Total Kjeldahl fish, habitat, Nitrogen, nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, Industrial *Cholera, wastes Heterotrophic Boreholes* Plate Count, radioactivity T otal and Faecal

Coliform, SAR, Organics, Free CN** Mg, Si, Sulphate, K, Ca, EC, EC, K, Ca, Sulphate, Si, Mg, E.Coli. Cl, Na, hardness, TAL, F, PH, * Boreholes - * cholera; ** mines – CN**

Depending on the selection of sites that the NW province uses for the am bient monitoring programm e it makes sense to try and use the existing monitoring programmes that are being undertaken. To meet its environmental goals and objectives, the NW Province proposes to integrate a combination of biological, chemical, physical, and yield indicators to monitor and assess site specific water quality conditions and aquifer long term water quality trends. Since it may not be practical for NW Province to personnel to sample all targeted boreholes on a regular basis, a statistical approach can be developed to represent the entire population of boreholes. The Ambient Network boreholes can then be randomly selected and stratified using three different variables: depth, aquifer, and surficial vulnerability. The network was also designed to reduce bias caused by the specific location of the borehole and the time of year that the sampling was done. Sam ples are analyzed for inorganic chem icals (IOC), synthetic organic pesticides (SOC), and volatile organic/aromatic compounds (VOC). Physical parameters can also be measured that include water quantity and water levels.

It is suggested that the development of predictive methods to assist ground the water monitoring programme be considered as part of the long term planning strategy. A Groundwater Modelling Project whereby researchers are map the key hydro- geologic features of NW Province including basement topography, faults, fractures, sinks, and dolomite eyes and springs would be very useful. Maps of natural features are combined with GIS-based maps of precipitation data and human hydrologic modifications of the surface, including storm drainage and ponding basins, urban and suburban housing developments, industrial activity, mining activity, airfields and rural communities. These data provide the basis for a comprehensive surface hydrologic model, which will enable more accurate estimates of groundwater recharge and the potential effects of surface development before im plem entation. T he coupling of the surface m odel with a numerical groundwater flow modelling is possible. The coupled model would provide means for assisting planners, managers, and regulators with estimates of groundwater discharge into as well as aquifer responses to increased extraction and natural or anthropogenic changes in recharge.

The implementation of such measures will surely go a long way in ensuring the sustainability of the growth of the North West Province.

5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 1. North West Province Department Of Agriculture (2006), Conservation And Environment for sources of information 2. Vongayi Stellah Chirima for assisting in the compilation of this paper

6 RE FE RE NCE S

3. Department of Water Affairs and Forestry DWAF (2004). National Water Resource Strategy: First edition. Department of Water Affairs and Forestry, September 2004.

4. Roux, H 2006. General aerial survey feedback report: Marico river including major tributaries, Molopo river Mooi river including major tributaries, Vaal river (barrage to knopfontein bridge), Schoon Spruit, Elands river, Hex river, Crocodile River (Hartbeespoort dam to Lim popo Province). North West Province River Health Programme.

5. Snyman, HG., Herselman, JE and Kasselman, G. 2004. A metal content survey of South African sewage sludge and an evaluation of analytical methods for their determination in sludge, WRC Report No. 1283/1/04

6. State of Environment Reports 2002, North West Province Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Environment, Directorate: Environment and Conservation Management, Mafikeng.

7. River Health Programme 2003. State of Rivers Report: Free State Regional River System, Department of Water Affairs and Forestry, Pretoria.

8. River Health Programme 2005. State of rivers report: monitoring and managing the ecological state of rivers in the Crocodile (West) Marico water management area. Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism Pretoria. State of rivers report: no. 9

9. Department Of Water Affairs And Forestry Dwaf (2006). Development Of A Catchment Management Strategy For The Schoon Spruit And Koekemoer Spruit Catchments In The Middle Vaal Management Area Phase Ii. Dwaf 16/2/7/Report Volum e 2/Schoon Spruit Koekem oer Spruit Catchment Managem ent Strategy/Water Quality And Quantity Status

10. Personal Communications To Ralph Heath Of Pulled Howard And De Lange.

11. North West Province Department Of Agriculture (2006), Conservation And Environment, Development of an Ambient Air Program for the North West Program, Status Quo Report.