Environmental Assessment Klienfontein Kalkmyn in the Loerie Area of the Kouga Municipality Aquatic Impact Assessment Date Revisi
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ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT KLIENFONTEIN KALKMYN IN THE LOERIE AREA OF THE KOUGA MUNICIPALITY AQUATIC IMPACT ASSESSMENT FOR ALGOA CONSULTING MINING ENGINEERS BY EnviroSci (Pty) Ltd Dr Brian Colloty 1 Rossini Rd Pari Park Port Elizabeth 6070 DATE 11 December 2019 REVISION 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 6 2. Terms of Reference ......................................................................................................................... 7 3. Project Description .......................................................................................................................... 8 4. Methodology ................................................................................................................................... 8 5. Description of the affected environment ..................................................................................... 18 6. Present Ecological State and conservation importance ............................................................... 24 7. Permit requirements ..................................................................................................................... 25 8. Impact assessment ........................................................................................................................ 27 9. Conclusion and Recommendations............................................................................................... 34 10. References ................................................................................................................................ 35 11. Appendix 1 - Specialist CV ......................................................................................................... 36 LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Comparison of ecosystems considered to be ‘wetlands’ as defined by the proposed NWCS, the NWA and ecosystems included in DWAF’s (2005) delineation manual. ......................... 11 Table 2: Description of A – F ecological categories based on Kleynhans et al., (2005) ........................ 14 Table 3: Summary of direct and indirect ecoservices provided by wetlands from Kotze et al., 2008 . 16 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: The study area and the 1:50 000 water courses and the position of the 4 survey sites along the Klien River .......................................................................................................................... 7 Figure 2: Basic structure of the NWCS, showing how ‘primary discriminators’ are applied up to Level 4 to classify Hydrogeomorphic (HGM) Units, with ‘secondary discriminators’ applied at Level 5 to classify the tidal/hydrological regime, and ‘descriptors’ applied at Level 6 to categorise the characteristics of wetlands classified up to Level 5 (From Ollis et al., 2013). ................. 13 Figure 3: Illustration of the conceptual relationship of HGM Units (at Level 4) with higher and lower levels (relative sizes of the boxes show the increasing spatial resolution and level of detail from the higher to the lower levels) for Inland Systems (from Ollis et al., 2013). ................ 13 Figure 4: Project locality map indicating the various quaternary catchment boundaries (green line) in relation to the study area (Source DWS and NGI). ................................................................ 19 Figure 5: The waterbodies identified in the SAIIE v2 National Wetland Inventory (2018) ................... 20 Figure 6: The respective subquaternary catchments rated in terms of Freshwater Ecosystem Priority Areas (FEPAs) in relation to the study area ........................................................................... 21 Figure 7: Critical Biodiversity Areas as per the ECBCP ......................................................................... 24 Figure 8: Delineated watercourses and the proposed 35m buffer ...................................................... 26 LIST OF PHOTO PLATES Plate 1: Survey Site 1, downstream of the proposed mining area, showing a high degree of disturbance (road crossings and impoundments) that has led to invasive reed encroachment. ............. 22 Plate 2: A view of Klein River, at Site 2, below the past rehabilitation site showing largely natural instream and emergent habitats. .......................................................................................... 22 Plate 3: Site 4 below the Loerie Ruskamp crossing with a series of pools and riffles and the past rehab area in the background.......................................................................................................... 23 Plate 4: a view of Site 4, with covered in mostly alien vegetation and fynbos vegetation, but no riverine wetland as indicated in the National Wetland Inventory (SAIIAE v2) ................................... 23 ACRONYMS CARA Conservation of Agricultural Resources Act CBA Critical Biodiversity Area CSIR Council for Scientific and Industrial Research DWS Department of Water and Sanitation formerly the Department of Water Affairs EIS Ecological Importance and Sensitivity ESA Ecological Support Area GA General Authorisation GIS Geographic Information System NFEPA National Freshwater Ecosystem Priority Atlas (Nel, et al. 2011). PES Present Ecological State SANBI South African National Biodiversity Institute SQ Subquaternary catchment WUL Water Use License WULA Water Use License Application SPECIALIST REPORT DETAILS Report prepared by: Dr. Brian Colloty Pr.Sci.Nat. (Ecology) / Member SAEIES. Expertise / Field of Study: BSc (Hons) Zoology, MSc Botany (Rivers), Ph.D Botany Conservation Importance rating (Estuaries) and interior wetland / riverine assessment consultant from 1996 to present. I, Dr. Brian Michael Colloty declare that this report has been prepared independently of any influence or prejudice as may be specified by the National Department of Environmental Affairs and or Department of Water and Sanitation. Signed:… ……………… Date:…11 January 2019………… Appendix 1 of this report contains a detailed CV This document contains intellectual property and proprietary information that is protected by copyright in favour of EnviroSci (Pty) Ltd. The document may therefore not be reproduced, or used without the prior written consent of EnviroSci (Pty) Ltd. This document is prepared exclusively for Algoa Consulting Mining Engineers and their client and is subject to all confidentiality, copyright, trade secrets, and intellectual property law and practices of SOUTH AFRICA. 1. Introduction Algoa Consulting Mining Engineers appointed EnviroSci (Pty) Ltd to conduct an aquatic impact assessment of the proposed mining permit area as shown in Figure 1. This included delineating any natural waterbodies on the property in question, as well as assessing the potential consequences of the project on the surrounding watercourses. A site-specific visit was conducted on June 2018 and the survey adhered to the assessment criteria contained in the DWAF 2005 / 2008 delineation manuals and the National Wetland Classification System. Several important national, provincial and municipal scale conservation plans were also reviewed, with the results of those studies being included in this report. Most conservation plans are produced at a high level, so it is therefore important to verify the actual status of the study area during this initial phase, prior to the final development plan being produced. 1.1 Aims and objectives The aim of this report is to provide the applicant with the requisite delineation of any natural waterbodies, while providing the competent authorities with the relevant information to determine legislative requirements. Certain aspects of the development will trigger the need for Section 21, Water Use License Applications (WULAs) (or general authorisation [GA] applications) such as watercourse crossings or development within 500m of a wetland. These applications will be initiated with the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) and information contained in this report will be used in the supporting documentation. Information about the state and function of the observed water bodies, suitable no-go buffers and assessment of the potential impacts are also provided. 1.2 Assumptions and Limitations To obtain a comprehensive understanding of the dynamics of both the flora and fauna of the aquatic communities within a study site, as well as the status of endemic, rare or threatened species in any area, assessments should always consider investigations at different time scales (across seasons/years) and through replication. No long-term monitoring was undertaken as part of this assessment. However, a concerted effort was made to assess the entire site, as well as make use of any available literature, species distribution data and aerial photography. Thus the lack on long term data is not seen as a limiting factor and the level of investigation undertaken was sufficient to inform this assessment. It should be emphasised that information, as presented in this document, only has reference to the study area as indicated on the accompanying maps. Therefore, this information cannot be applied to any other area without detailed investigation. For the purposes of this report it is assumed that water will be sourced from a licensed resource and not illegally abstracted from any surrounding watercourses or groundwater systems. Kleinfontein Kalkmyn Aquatic Assessment | 6 Figure 1: The study area and the 1:50 000 water courses and the position