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Orange River: Assessment of Water Quality Data Requirements for Water Quality Planning Purposes

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Orange River: Assessment of Water Quality Data Requirements for Water Quality Planning Purposes DEPARTMENT OF WATER AFFAIRS AND FORESTRY Water Resource Planning Systems Orange River: Assessment of Water Quality Data Requirements for Water Quality Planning Purposes Towards a Monitoring programme: Upper and Lower Orange Water Management Areas (WMAs 13 and 14) Report No.: 6 P RSA D000/00/8009/3 July 2009 Final Published by Department of Water Affairs and Forestry Private Bag X313 PRETORIA, 0001 Republic of South Africa Tel: (012) 336 7500/ +27 12 336 7500 Fax: (012) 336 6731/ +27 12 336 6731 Copyright reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced in any manner without full acknowledgement of the source ISBN No. 978-0-621-38693-6 This report should be cited as: Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF), 2009. Directorate Water Resource Planning Systems: Water Quality Planning. Orange River: Assessment of water quality data requirements for planning purposes. Towards a Monitoring Programme: Upper and Lower Orange Water Management Areas (WMAs 13 and 14). Report No. 6 (P RSA D000/00/8009/3). ISBN No. 978-0-621-38693-6, Pretoria, South Africa. Orange River: Assessment of Water Quality data requirements for water quality planning purposes Monitoring Programme Report No.:6 DOCUMENT INDEX Reports as part of this project: REPORT REPORT TITLE NUMBER Overview: Overarching Catchment Context: Upper and Lower Orange Water Management 1* Areas (WMAs 13 and 14) 2.1* Desktop Catchment Assessment Study: Upper Orange Water Management Area (WMA 13) 2.2* Desktop Catchment Assessment Study: Lower Orange Water Management Area (WMA 14) 3** Water Quality Monitoring and Status Quo: Upper and Lower Orange Water Management Areas (WMAs 13 and 14) 4.1* Catchment Visioning: Upper Orange Water Management Area (WMA 13) 4.2* Catchment Visioning: Lower Orange Water Management Area (WMA 14) 5** Resource Water Quality Objectives (RWQOs): Upper and Lower Orange Water Management Areas (WMAs 13 and 14) 6** Towards A Monitoring programme: Upper and Lower Orange Water Management Areas (WMAs 13 and 14) * Reports produced by the Directorate, Water Resource Planning Systems, Sub-Directorate Water Quality Planning as part of the study titled “Development of an Integrated Water Quality Management Strategy for the Upper and Lower Orange River Water Management Areas”. ** Reports produced by Zitholele Consulting on behalf of the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry as part of the study titled “Assessment of Water Quality Data Requirements for Water Quality Planning Purposes in the Upper and Lower Orange Water Management Areas”. Final i July 2009 Orange River: Assessment of Water Quality data Monitoring Programme Report Report No.:6 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The following individuals are thanked for their contributions to the document: Project Management Committee Jurgo van Wyk Department of Water Affairs & Project Manager Forestry Retha Stassen Department of Water Affairs & Project Co-ordinator Forestry Samantha Boshoff Department of Water Affairs & Project Co-ordinator Forestry Priya Moodley Zitholele Consulting Study Manager Jan C Roos Water Quality Consultants Co-study leader and technical task leader Pieter Viljoen Department of Water Affairs & Project Director Forestry Seef Rademeyer Department of Water Affairs & Member Forestry Mariette Swart Department of Water Affairs & Member Forestry Mike Mokgwabone Department of Water Affairs & Member Forestry Sam Dywili Department of Water Affairs & Member Forestry Henry Abbott Department of Water Affairs & Member Forestry Willem Grobler Department of Water Affairs & Member Forestry Peter Pyke Department of Water Affairs & Member Forestry Lerato Bapela Department of Water Affairs & Member Forestry Thokozani Mbhele Department of Water Affairs & Member Forestry Lorraine Fick Department of Water Affairs & Member Forestry Salagae Modukanele Department of Water Affairs & Member Forestry Rodrick Schwab Department of Water Affairs & Member Forestry Sebastian Jooste Department of Water Affairs & Member Forestry Ramogale Sekwele Department of Water Affairs & Member Forestry Dragana Ristic Department of Water Affairs & Member Forestry Barbara Weston Department of Water Affairs & Member Forestry Wendy Ralekoa Department of Water Affairs & Member Forestry Draft Final iii July 2009 Orange River: Assessment of Water Quality data requirements for water quality planning purposes Monitoring Programme Report No.:6 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Monitoring and evaluation are essential components of any water resource management project. In order for water quality managers and regulators on various levels to take management decisions regarding water quality and related issues, they need reliable information on which to base those decisions and actions. Much of the information needed will be generated by water quality monitoring programmes. Ongoing monitoring programmes assist in understanding the changes that occur in the river/dam over time and determine whether the desired management objectives are being met. Monitoring of system change is crucial, but more importantly the system must be audited against the desired state, i.e. Resource Water Quality Objectives (RWQOs), to ensure that the goals of management are met and the system maintains in the desired state – see Report No. 5 for RWQOs of Orange River. The objective of this task is to propose improvements and recommend changes to the monitoring requirements of the Orange River based on the status quo assessment and to advise on a revised monitoring programme for the Orange River System co-managed by the Directorate Resource Quality Services and the Northern Cape and Free State Regional Offices. Monitoring Needs Identified: The status assessment task identified certain gaps in the current monitoring system. Amongst these were the discontinuation of sampling at strategic sites, poor sampling frequency, and important variables that are not measured. A low sampling performance was detected at a number of National Chemical Monitoring Programme sites (NCMP). It is critical that these identified issues be addressed and resolved by the NCMP Programme Manager and Regional Offices as soon as possible. During this study a clear lack in suspended solids data was identified. See Tables 9, 10 & 11 for variables currently measured and suggested to be included. It is recommended that: o Suspended solids and turbidity monitoring be done at all the proposed monitoring sites on the Orange and Caledon River, o Chl-a measurements covered the Orange River fairly well (7 sites), but to make the Chl-a data useful, the frequency of measurement should be increased to at least monthly. o The NMMP be expanded to include the following sites: Marksdrift, Pella and Vioolsdrift; from an ecotourism perspective. o From a nutrient perspective, if TN is measured, then also determine the total phosphorus (TP) concentrations, thus it is recommended to include TP measurements at Marksdrift, Upington, and in the Kraai River. Final v July 2009 Orange River: Assessment of Water Quality data requirements for water quality planning purposes Monitoring Programme Report No.:6 The Proposed Strategic Monitoring sites for WMA 13 & 14 are listed in Tables 5 – 8. The following recommendations are made: Initial proposed monitoring sites that are not recommended as high priority sites are: o Saamwerk – farm upstream of Gariep Dam, o Prieska (D7H002), o Gifkloof (new site) – close to Upington, o Kanon Island (old D7H004) o Brand Kaross (old D8H007) o Caledon at Tienfontein pump station o Meulspruit o Leeu River Reintroduce sampling at the following monitoring site on the Orange River: o Alexander Bay (D8H012). Proposed new water quality monitoring sites on the Orange River: o De Hoek – farm downstream of Orange-Vaal Rivers’ confluence (Old site Irene, D7H012) o Blouputs – Export Farms downstream of Augrabies Falls; o Sendelingsdrift – downstream of the Fish River confluence. Proposed new water quality monitoring sites on the Orange River tributaries: o Sterkspruit – in town of Sterkspruit o Vaal River at Douglas bridge Proposed new water quality monitoring sites on the Caledon River: o Caledon River at the confluence with Little Caledon o Caledon at Maseru – Lesotho; downstream of city. Proposed new water quality monitoring sites on the Caledon River tributaries: o Grootspruit at Fouriesburg o Moperispruit at Clocolan It is known that you can not manage what you can not control, and you can not control what you do not measure. Therefore, to manage the water quality in the Orange River system, certain key physical, chemical and biological parameters have to be measured (monitored). Expanding and improving the water quality monitoring programme on the Orange River will contribute to the sustainable utilisation of this important aquatic ecosystem. Final vi July 2009 Orange River: Assessment of Water Quality data requirements for water quality planning purposes Monitoring Programme Report No.:6 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION............................................................................................1 2 STUDY AREA ................................................................................................2 3 STRATEGIES FOR WATER QUALITY ASSESSMENT IN RIVER SYSTEMS ......................................................................................................5 4 THE NEED FOR MONITORING....................................................................6 5 AIM OF THE PROJECT.................................................................................8 5.1 Aim and objectives of monitoring programme .........................................8
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