Shire River, Elephant Marsh and Lake Malawi
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF MALAWI MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE IRRIGATION AND WATER DEVELOPMENT SHIRE RIVER BASIN MANAGEMENT PROGRAMME (PHASE I) PROJECT CLIMATE RESILIENT LIVELIHOODS AND SUSTAINABLE NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN THE ELEPHANT MARSH, MALAWI Sub-Study 2: Hydromorphology of the Elephant Marsh Prepared by: In Association with: December 2016 Climate resilient livelihoods and sustainable natural resources management in the Elephant Marshes - Hydromorphology “No important work is ever accomplished without considerable trouble” David Livingstone, Elephant Marsh, 1863 Page i Climate resilient livelihoods and sustainable natural resources management in the Elephant Marshes - Hydromorphology Citation Birkhead, A.L., Reinecke, M.K. and Brown, C.A., 2016. Hydromorphology of the Elephant Marsh, Malawi. Unpublished consultancy report prepared by Streamflow Solution cc and Southern Waters Ecological Research and Consulting cc, in association with MRag (UK). Climate resilient livelihoods and sustainable natural resources management in the Elephant Marsh, Malawi. Ministry of Irrigation and Water Development, Republic of Malawi. Shire River Basin Management Programme Project 117617. 201 pp. Copyright information This document contains intellectual property and proprietary information that is protected by copyright in favour of Streamflow Solutions cc. The document may therefore not be reproduced, or used without the prior written consent of Streamflow Solutions cc and Southern Waters Ecological Research and Consulting cc. This document is prepared exclusively for the Malawi Government and Shire River Basin Management Programme, and is subject to all confidentiality, copyright, trade secrets, and intellectual property law and practices of SOUTH AFRICA. Streamflow Solutions cc Streamflow Solutions is based in East London (SA). Its focus since inception in 1998 has been the development and application of eco-hydraulics for the assessment of Environmental Flows in rivers, floodplains and wetlands, and for the assessment of impacts resulting from water resource developments. The interdisciplinary nature of this field has meant extensive interactions with hydrologists, fluvial geomorphologists, ecologists and social scientists. Specifically, Streamflow Solutions carries out topographical and bathymetric surveys, the design and installation of hydraulic data-collection systems, digital elevation and hydrodynamic (one and two-dimensional) modelling, software development, and habitat mapping using remote sensing. Southern Waters Ecological Research and Consulting cc Southern Waters provides a service to public and private organisations in advising on the sustainable management of inland and coastal aquatic systems. Its members contribute to the body of fundamental knowledge on the structure and functioning of these ecosystems, and it has retained a research and teaching component through its direct links with an academic institution. Southern Waters focuses on freshwater ecosystems and, as such, has a wealth of knowledge on the nature, condition, functioning and management of rivers and other inland waters, both in southern Africa and abroad. Report history Version Scope Date Prepared by Andrew Birkhead (Streamflow Solutions) and Karl Reinecke 1 21/11/2016 (Southern Waters) 2 Reviewed by Cate Brown (Southern Waters) 24/11/2016 3.1 Revised by Andrew Birkhead (Streamflow Solutions) 30/11/2016 3.2 Revised by Andrew Birkhead (Streamflow Solutions) and Karl Reinecke 06/12/2016 Draft Final (Southern Waters) Page ii Climate resilient livelihoods and sustainable natural resources management in the Elephant Marshes - Hydromorphology Acknowledgements The Elephant Marsh had rather a reputation for boats getting stuck in the 19th century: “In ascending this river with the Lady Nyasa in tow alongside, we had no difficulty till we got to the Elephant Marsh, and there in sudden bends we found it an awkward matter to get along, for two vessels cannot be turned so quickly as one, and Lady Nyasa being pretty deep would go aground, and was very difficult to get off ... so we have lost more time than we anticipated” (Livingstone, 1863) “He [Thornton] overtook the steamers [Livingstone’s Pioneer and Lady Nyasa] on the 28th of January near the ‘Elephant Marsh’ on the Shire, and accompanied them in their slow progress amongst the shoals of that much-obstructed river...“ (Thornton, 1864) “On Monday last we steamed on to the middle of the Elephant Swamp and there stuck. There was no passage of 4 ft to take us through. We have had a week's hauling in the meantime ... still in the middle of the Elephant Swamp” Kirk (1865) “...so after all, if the boat did sink, it would not be quite up with us. All we had now to guard against was sticking on sand-banks. This was not very easy, because the river was getting full of shallows, and in some places the men had to get out and wade before they could push the boat along. Every now and then we came to a dead halt; and as we got off again, we heard the boat grating along the bottom of the river.” Pringle (1886) Technology has advanced from that era of paddle steamers with coal-fired boilers, to the extreme horsepower airboats of today, but some things don’t change. And so it was in September 2015, some 25 km into the thick of the Marsh that our high-tech mode of transport failed. There certainly is no better way to experience the Elephant Marsh’s reed-lined web of channels, the vast expanses of its beautiful lakes, hippos with attitude, and mosquito population, than a 15-hour pole into the sunset and darkness of the ensuing hours. Our sincere thanks to the many fisherman we encountered along the way that assisted us on that slower journey back to base. What was “lost in time”, was more than gained in adventure. Elephant Marsh, September 2015 Page iii Climate resilient livelihoods and sustainable natural resources management in the Elephant Marshes - Hydromorphology Local fisherman aside, many people and organisations contributed to the success of this study, for which they are gratefully acknowledged: Dr Mandy Uys for a detailed report review and valuable suggestions; GIS and data support provided by Justin Saunders (GIS expert - World Bank, SRBMP); Bruce Carruthers (Shire River Crocodiles, Ltd) for assisting with field work logistics, and to whom we are indebted for saving the fieldwork exercise by providing a boat and skipper (Kondwane Thawani) support after the airboat failed; Richard Nyrienda for his excellent skippering of the airboat - sadly, short-lived; Alice Gwedeza and Hankey Pangane (DoS, Lilongwe, Malawi) for being most helpful with supplying survey and GIS data; Frank Jefule for data collection in the Marsh; Stuart Hansloo and Pierre Vrey (Underwaters Surveys, Cape Town, SA); Data sharing by consultants involved with other projects under the auspices of the SRBMP: Dan Wykeham (Atkins), Kevin Greaves (DHI), Dr Geoff Wright (Niras), Martin Kleynhans (Aurecon) and Dr Eliot Taylor (Mott Macdonald); Dr Julian Bayliss (Biodiversity and Protected Areas Specialist, SRBMP); Jester Kaunga-Nyirenda (Assistant Director, Department of National Parks and Wildlife, Malawi); Hyde Sibanda (Chief hydrologist, MoIWD) and Macford M’bama (MoIWD) for supplying hydrometric data; Lauren Nelson (MRag) for retrieving a copy of Johnston’s 1898 detailed map of the Shire River’s course through the Elephant Marsh from the archives of the Royal Geographic Society in London (UK); Prof Denis Hughes (Rhodes University, Grahamstown, SA); Prof Marion Bamford and Dr Jennifer Fitchett (Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, SA); Dr Palamuleni (North West University, SA); satellite imagery and mapped flood extents from various sources: USGS EarthExplorer, Centre for Satellite based Crises Information of the German Aerospace Centre, SA Space Agency, and Blackbridge, and; the highly-valued and utilised public-domain GIS software: SAGA GIS and Quantum GIS. Page iv Climate resilient livelihoods and sustainable natural resources management in the Elephant Marshes - Hydromorphology Table of Contents Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................ iii Table of Contents .................................................................................................................................... v List of Tables ......................................................................................................................................... vii List of Figures ....................................................................................................................................... viii Acronyms and abbreviations ................................................................................................................ xv Terminology ......................................................................................................................................... xvii 1 Introduction and background ............................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Objectives of this sub-study .................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Layout of the report ................................................................................................................ 2 1.3 Geographical, hydropower and hydrological context ............................................................