PALAEONTOLOGICAL HERITAGE ASSESSMENT: COMBINED DESKTOP & FIELD-BASED STUDY PROPOSED EXPANSION OF THE AMAHLEKE WATER SUPPLY SCHEME NEAR DIMBAZA OUTSIDE OF KING WILLIAMS TOWN, BUFFALO CITY METROPOLITAN MUNICIPALITY, EASTERN CAPE John E. Almond PhD (Cantab.) Natura Viva cc, PO Box 12410 Mill Street, Cape Town 8010, RSA
[email protected] December 2015 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality are proposing to expand the existing Amahleke Water Supply Scheme located near Dimbaza outside of King Williams Town in the Eastern Cape. The proposed works involves the upgrading of the existing water pipelines and rising main as well as an expansion of two of the reservoirs in the area. The upgrade of the pipeline includes the construction of a pipeline bridge over the Mngqesha River. The study area for the proposed upgrade of the Amahleke Water Supply Scheme north of Dimbaza is underlain by Late Permian continental sediments of the lLwer Beaufort Group (Adelaide Subgroup, Karoo Supergroup). However, these potentially fossiliferous bedrocks are generally highly weathered and have been baked by major Karoo dolerite intrusions. Consequently their palaeontological sensitivity is low. This is also the case for the overlying superficial sediments of Late Pleistocene to Recent age, including thick sandy to gravelly donga infill deposits, ferricrete hardpans, sandy to gravelly alluvium and modern soils. No vertebrate fossils, petrified wood or other fossil remains were recorded within the bedrock or superficial sediments during the present field assessment. The overall impact significance of the Amahleke Water Supply Scheme project is evaluated as negligible as far as palaeontology is concerned. Unless significant new fossil finds (e.g.