Review of the MCWAP Phase 2A Draft Environmental Impact Assessment Report (September 2018), and Baseline Aquatic and Wetland Impact Specialist Reports

The Freshwater Research Centre (FRC) conducted a review of the Draft Environmental Impact Assessment Report (DEIR) for the Mokolo and Crocodile River (West) Water Augmentation Project (Phase 2A). The FRC concludes that the assessment of operational phase impacts on aquatic ecosystems is inadequate, particularly regarding water quality, hydrology, and the transfer of invasive biota between catchments.

• The MCWAP2A DEIR fails to comprehensively assess the risks of the Inter-Basin Water Transfer (IBT), specifically neglecting impacts on the Mokolo River and Limpopo River catchments. The report assumes that transferring return flow water from Gauteng to the Mokolo River catchment will not adversely affect neighbouring states, ignoring risks related to water quality and the transfer of pest biota.
• The project's impact assessment methodology is deemed insufficient for a project of this scale. The use of the Department of Water and Sanitation’s (DWS) Risk Matrix approach is criticized for not assessing the significance of impacts as required by NEMA, nor addressing cumulative impacts, irreplaceable loss of resources, or the reversibility of impacts.
• There is a significant risk of transferring poor quality water and invasive species from the donor Crocodile (West) River and the hypertrophic Hartbeespoort Dam to the recipient Matlabas and Mokolo River catchments. Specific concerns include the transfer of nutrient enrichment, salinization, and the category 1b weed Water Hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes).
• The assessment of the operational phase is inadequate, particularly regarding the hydrology of the Crocodile (West) River. The FRC notes a lack of detail on how minimum flows for Environmental Water Requirements (EWR) will be implemented and highlights the absence of a River Maintenance Management Plan (RMMP) to mitigate abstraction impacts.
• The project fails to account for cumulative impacts related to climate change. The FRC argues that predicted shifts in climate will exacerbate threats such as infrastructure development and water abstraction, potentially hindering the movement of flora and fauna due to the construction of weirs and increasing the variability of hydrological regimes.
• The field assessments for rivers and wetlands were conducted only during a single low-flow season, which the FRC considers insufficient for a project of this magnitude. Additionally, the water quality analysis omitted nutrients, despite nutrient enrichment being a known problem in the donor catchments.
• The project may cause adverse geomorphological impacts, including a shift in the sediment regime. Removing up to 4% of suspended sediment from abstracted water may lead to downstream erosion in the Crocodile (West) River, and the use of borrow pit SS1 is expected to cause local and downstream sedimentation of habitat.
• The Wetland Impact Assessment is criticized for lacking information on the biota inhabiting or depending on the identified wetlands. Furthermore, the FRC identifies a contradiction regarding the Vlieëpoort Weir, where claims of no habitat loss conflict with statements about silt deposition and the establishment of new wetland plants on the floodplain.

APA

Centre for Environmental Rights (2018). Review of the MCWAP Phase 2A Draft Environmental Impact Assessment Report (September 2018), and Baseline Aquatic and Wetland Impact Specialist Reports. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Annexure-D-Aquatics-assessment-on-rivers-and-wetlands.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Centre for Environmental Rights. Review of the MCWAP Phase 2A Draft Environmental Impact Assessment Report (September 2018), and Baseline Aquatic and Wetland Impact Specialist Reports. 2018. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Annexure-D-Aquatics-assessment-on-rivers-and-wetlands.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Centre for Environmental Rights |title=Review of the MCWAP Phase 2A Draft Environmental Impact Assessment Report (September 2018), and Baseline Aquatic and Wetland Impact Specialist Reports |date=25 October 2018 |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Annexure-D-Aquatics-assessment-on-rivers-and-wetlands.pdf?x21779 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{centreforenvironmentalrights2018review, author = {{Centre for Environmental Rights}}, title = {{Review of the MCWAP Phase 2A Draft Environmental Impact Assessment Report (September 2018), and Baseline Aquatic and Wetland Impact Specialist Reports}}, institution = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, year = {2018}, month = oct, url = {https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Annexure-D-Aquatics-assessment-on-rivers-and-wetlands.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }