Present Ecological Status and Ecological Importance and Sensitivity for north-eastern South Africa.

The National Water Act (NWA) (Act 36 of 1998) provides for the protection and sustainable management of South Africa’s water resources through Resource Directed Measures (RDM). These include the classification of water resources using the Water Resource Classification System (WRCS), determination of the Reserve, and setting of Resource Quality Objectives (RQOs). A key part of this framework is the classification of the Present Ecological State (PES) and Ecological Importance and Sensitivity (EIS) for rivers, wetlands, and estuaries.

GroundTruth, as a partner to project leaders Rivers of Life Aquatic Health Services, have been appointed by the Water Research Commission (WRC) on a South African Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) funded project to update the 2014 PESEIS database for rivers, wetlands, and estuaries across the north-eastern region of South Africa. This update relies on new, credible data from recent assessments and specialist consultations. This is part of larger project to update the PESEIS database for rivers, wetlands, and estuaries across South Africa. The main objectives of the project are to:

1. Update PESEIS data per subquaternary reach, focusing on PES metrics, instream and riparian fauna and flora, and providing comments on habitat diversity and impacts.
2. Facilitate capacity building with DWS and other stakeholders for the future update, use and management of the database.
3. Conduct field verifications and Rapid Reserve determinations in selected catchments where data gaps exist.

Overview of Approach

The methodology is tailored for rivers, wetlands, estuaries, and capacity development:

• Rivers: Field assessments were conducted for reaches with limited data, including water quality monitoring, hydraulic measurements, and surveys of benthic diatoms, fish, and macroinvertebrate communities. For areas with up-to-date data, existing information on sensitive species and ecosystem threats was utilised.
• Wetlands: Specialists and local experts provided updated data on key wetlands.
• Estuaries: New literature and expert input were used to refine the ecological status of river-estuary ecotones.
• Capacity Building: Workshops are being conducted to train DWS staff and other stakeholders on the updated database and its applications.

Project Progress

GroundTruth has:

• Conducted a literature review and gap analysis to identify missing data.
• Completed field verifications and Rapid Reserve determinations.
• Organised and facilitated capacity-building workshops on database use and management.
• Completed updates to the PESEIS data for half of the study area.

The project aims to deliver an integrated PESEIS database for the country by the end of 2025, providing critical support for sustainable water resource management in South Africa.