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Terrestrial Ecological Assessment Report THE PROPOSED CROSS -BORDER MAGALIES WATER BULK WATER SUPP LY SYSTEM, WITHIN CITY OF TSHWANE METROPOLITAN MUNICIPALITY AND MORETELE LOCAL MUNICIPALITY Terrestrial Ecological Assessment Report JANUARY 2017 Prepared for: Magalies Water MONTH YEAR i TERRSTRIAL ECOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT REPORT THE PROPOSED CROSS-BORDER MAGALIES WATER BULK WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM, WITHIN CITY OF TSHWANE METROPOLITAN MUNICIPALITY AND MORETELE LOCAL MUNICIPALITY Title and Approval Page The Proposed cross-border Magalies Water bulk water supply system, Project Name: within City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality and Moretele Local Municipality Report Title: Terrestrial Ecological Impact Assessment Authority Reference: DEA: 14/12/16/3/1/1218 Report Status Draft Client: Magalies Water Prepared By: Nemai Consulting +27 11 781 1730 147 Bram Fischer Drive +27 11 781 1731 Ferndale, 2194 [email protected] P.O. Box 1673 Sunninghill, 2157 Report Reference: 50041 R-PRO-REP|20151105 Authorisation Name Signature Date Avhafarei Ronald Author: 16/01/2017 Phamphe Reviewed By: Kristy Robertson 11/11/2015 Professional Natural Scientist: South African Ecological Science Council for Natural (400349/2) Scientific Professions Professional Member Affiliations of South African Institute of Ecologists and Environmental Scientists Professional Member: South African Association of Botanists. This Document is Confidential Intellectual Property of Nemai Consulting C.C. © copyright and all other rights reserved by Nemai Consulting C.C. This document may only be used for its intended purpose . JANUARY 2017 Pg i TERRSTRIAL ECOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT REPORT THE PROPOSED CROSS-BORDER MAGALIES WATER BULK WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM, WITHIN CITY OF TSHWANE METROPOLITAN MUNICIPALITY AND MORETELE LOCAL MUNICIPALITY Executive Summary The Moretele Local Municipality (MLM) receives regional water supply, meaning that the Water Treatment Works (WTW) supplying the southern parts of the area are situated, stored and pumped from the City of Tshwane (CoT) and the northern parts are supplied by Magalies Water’s Klipdrift WTW. CoT inherited the scheme but does not operate or maintain the gravity pipelines situated in the MLM area. CoT has requested Magalies Water (MW) to take over the supply to the area, or at least part thereof. For this purpose, (MW) has proposed a new pipeline from the Klipdrift WTW to follow the MLM/CoT boundary to the supply points to supply the MLM southern area. The MLM northern areas could be supplied from the Klipdrift WTW or future Klipvoor scheme. The northern areas of the MLM is fully reliant on groundwater. The two water boards in the region, MW and Rand Water (RW) are the only regional water services providers that are able to operate and manage regional bulk infrastructure. The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) as the custodian of the water resources has an over-arching role to ensure that all users in urban and rural areas have access to at least a basic level of water services. Currently, the existing water services, especially in the rural areas, are not always secure. The growing urban areas have to plan for projected future demands in their regions to sustain economic growth and development while addressing the availability of raw water resources via the responsible utilization of potable water supplies. MW propose to construct a new 29km bulk water pipeline from the Klipdrift WTW which would allow the supply of water to the Carousel View, Bosplaas West and Mogogelo and the far Western systems of the MLM. A Terrestrial Ecological Assessment was undertaken as part of the Basic Assessment (BA) Process in order to assess the impacts that the proposed construction of a new bulk pipeline will have on the receiving environment. The objective of this study was to identify sensitive species and their habitats along the proposed pipeline route. The current ecological status and conservation priority of vegetation on the site were assessed. Potential faunal habitats were investigated in the study area and JANUARY 2017 Pg ii TERRSTRIAL ECOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT REPORT THE PROPOSED CROSS-BORDER MAGALIES WATER BULK WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM, WITHIN CITY OF TSHWANE METROPOLITAN MUNICIPALITY AND MORETELE LOCAL MUNICIPALITY all mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians known to occur on site or seen on site were recorded. Red Data species (both fauna and flora) that are known to occur on site were investigated. The proposed pipeline falls within the Savanna Biome. The Savanna Biome is the largest Biome in South Africa and occupies over one third of the whole country. It is characterized by a grassy ground layer and distinct upper layer of woody plants (Low and Rebelo, 1996). Mucina and Rutherford (2006) classified the proposed pipeline route as falling within the following vegetation types-Central Sandy Bushveld and Springbokvlakte Thornveld. These vegetation types are classified as Vulnerable and Endangered respectively. According to the data sourced from South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI); Springbokvlakte Thornveld is listed as a threatened terrestrial ecosystem that was recorded on the study area. The data from the Gauteng Conservation Plan 3.3 indicate that the proposed pipeline occurs in a Critical Biodiversity Areas (CBA) and Ecological Support Areas (ESA) and the CBA of the site is classified as an Important Area. Anthropogenic activities such as roads, foot paths, littering and most importantly, habitat fragmentation have completely transformed most sections of the proposed pipeline route. Few patches of natural grasslands, riparian vegetation and woodlands still exist along the proposed route of the pipeline. Several protected trees have distributions within the study site. Of note is the presence of Sclerocarya birrea subsp. caffra (Marula) on site. The Marula tree is a nationally protected tree species, and the disturbance to which should be avoided where possible and in terms of Section 15(1) of the National Forests Act, 1998, no person may cut, disturb, damage or destroy any protected tree or possess, collect, remove, transport, export, purchase, sell, donate or in any other manner acquire or dispose of any protected tree or any forest product derived from a protected tree, except under a licence or exemption granted by the Minister to an applicant and subject to such period and conditions as may be stipulated. No Orange/Red Data listed species were recorded along the proposed pipeline route. Given that there are possibilities of species of conservation importance to occur on site, it is important that a qualified professional should be on site prior to construction to embark on a walk-down survey and assess any species that could occur within the study area. If any Red Data species are found, proper mitigation measures should be employed. JANUARY 2017 Pg iii TERRSTRIAL ECOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT REPORT THE PROPOSED CROSS-BORDER MAGALIES WATER BULK WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM, WITHIN CITY OF TSHWANE METROPOLITAN MUNICIPALITY AND MORETELE LOCAL MUNICIPALITY Most sections of the proposed pipeline route have been transformed, largely due to human habitation, roads, infrastructure, informal dumping of rubble and domestic refuse and also foot paths. Suitable habitats such as riparian and woodlands still exist. This habitat transformation, together with elevated human presence and impacts such as disturbance, hunting and persecution, has negatively impacted on large mammal occurrence, particularly ungulates and predators. Care should be exercised in order to negate the negative ecological impacts through further habitat fragmentation. Only seven mammal species were recorded on site during the field assessments-namely Common Duiker, Highveld Mole-rat, Scrub Hare, Common House Mouse, House Rat, Yellow Mongoose and Bushveld gerbil. Mammals recorded within the study area were common and of no conservation importance. This was expected due to the high levels of habitat transformation evident in the study area associated with urban development. No Red Data mammal species were recorded. Conservation and planning tools were reviewed for relevancy in terms of the project area, and it was found that the study area did not contain or form part of any Important Bird Area (IBA) but the closest one is situated approximately 29km away, namely Magaliesberg IBA. An avifaunal study indicated that the riparian vegetation, exotic trees and woodlands provide natural habitats for bird species. The species recorded during the field assessment were common and have wider distribution and no species of conservation importance were noted on site. Large areas surrounding the site have resulted in increased habitat modification and transformation as well as increased human presence and associated disturbances (illegal reptile collecting, indiscriminate killing of all snake species, and frequent fires) surrounding the site coupled with increased habitat destruction and disturbances on the neighbouring properties are all causal factors in the alteration and disappearance of reptile diversity in the area. The study areas support limited suitable habitat for any arboreal species but provided suitable habitat for terrestrial reptile species such as Ground Agama, Yellow throated Plated Lizard, Montane Speckled or Striped Skink as well as snake species (Rinkhals, Mole Snake, and Black-headed Centipede Eater). Termite mounds were present on site. Old termite mounds offer important refuges especially during veld fires as well as cold winter months for numerous frog, lizard, snake and smaller mammal species. Large
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