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Proposed Wind and Solar (Photovoltaic) Energy Facilities on Kangnas Farm near Springbok in the Northern Cape: Final EIR 110 The same measures as recommended for the proposed wind energy facility should be implemented. 4.4.4 Sedimentation and erosion of watercourses The site is situated on a watershed between the Orange River and the Buffels River with the main freshwater features being a number of small ephemeral streams that drain the inselbergs for a short period following rainfall events, two small springs/well points and some ephemeral pans at Kangnas and Koeris farms. The ephemeral tributaries of the Buffels and Orange rivers within the site are considered to be in a largely natural to moderately modified ecological state. The sediment loads of any drainage depressions or pans may increase due to the excavations on the site, the laying of linear infrastructure such as roads or power lines across drainage lines and other construction related activities. The potential impact of sedimentation and erosion from the construction of the proposed wind energy facility is considered to be of medium to high magnitude, site specific and short term and therefore of low (-) significance, without mitigation. The potential of this impact would reduce to very low (-) significance, after mitigation. The potential impact of disturbance of freshwater related habitats in the actual solar development zone is considered to be of moderate magnitude, site specific and short term and therefore of very low (-) significance, with and without mitigation. The following mitigation measures are recommended for the wind energy facility: • Wind turbines should be located outside of any of the identified drainage channels, as is currently the case. • Construction activities should as far as possible be limited to the identified sites for the proposed wind energy facility and the identified access routes. • Where transmission lines need to be constructed over/through the drainage channels, disturbance of the channels should be limited. These areas should be rehabilitated after construction is complete. • Existing road infrastructure should be utilized as far as possible to minimize the overall disturbance created by the proposed projects. Where access routes need to be constructed through ephemeral streams, disturbance of the channel should be limited. • All crossings over drainage channels or stream beds should be such that the flow within the drainage channel is not impeded. • Road infrastructure and power transmission lines should coincide as much as possible to minimize the impact. • Any disturbed areas should be rehabilitated to ensure that these areas do not become subject to erosion or invasive alien plant growth. • All crossings over drainage channels or stream beds after the construction phase should be rehabilitated such that the flow within the drainage channel is not impeded. • A buffer of 30 m (measured from top of bank) should be maintained adjacent to the identified ephemeral streams and 500m from the springs. • All materials on the construction sites should be properly stored and contained. Disposal of waste from the sites should also be properly managed. Construction workers should be given ablution facilities at the construction sites that are located at least 100 m away from any drainage areas/ephemeral streams and regularly serviced. These measures © Aurecon (2012) No unauthorised reproduction, copy or adaptation, in whole or in part, may be made. P:\Projects\108495 Kangnas WEF & PV EIA's\3 Project Delivery\4 Reports\FEIR\FEIR 210213 Final.doc
Proposed Wind and Solar (Photovoltaic) Energy Facilities on Kangnas Farm near Springbok in the Northern Cape: Final EIR 111 should be addressed, implemented and monitored in terms of the EMP for the construction phase. • Any septic tanks constructed for the project should be located at least 100 m (measured from top of bank) from the ephemeral streams and at least 1 000 m away from the springs or any boreholes/wellpoints. • Storm water run-off infrastructure must be maintained to mitigate both the flow and water quality impacts of any storm water leaving the energy facilities site. Should any erosion features develop, they should be stabilised as soon as possible. The same measures as recommended for the proposed wind energy facility should be implemented. 4.4.5 Impact on heritage resources Heritage resources include archaeological material (e.g. rock paintings, stone tools), palaeontological material (e.g. fossilised materials) and cultural heritage material (e.g. old graveyards, fences or ruins of buildings). Since some potential heritage material is buried, it is often only found during the construction phase of a project. A large scale development such as the proposed projects could have a negative impact on the archaeological and cultural heritage resources (including visual, landscape and sense of place impacts) by damaging or destroying such material or by requiring the material to be removed and stored in situ. As such a heritage impact study was undertaken by Mr Jayson Orton. A site survey was conducted from 23- 28 July 2012. The Heritage Impact Assessment is included in Annexure H. The findings and recommendations of the study are summarised below. a) Description of the environment The landscape on and around the study area is dominated by two strongly contrasting components namely low rocky inselbergs and ranges of hills with flat grassland in between. During the site survey a large number of heritage occurrences were recorded. Pre-colonial archaeology The best pre-colonial sites are often found in caves. These are very rare in the Bushmanland landscape however four are located on the site. Two of these caves contain rock art, the third cave had only two quartz artefacts and the fourth cave was located in a small rocky valley and seemed to contain only light traces of occupation. These traces consisted of fragments of burnt bone, some fragments of ostrich eggshell and pottery and a few quartz flaked stone artefacts. The majority of archaeological sites recorded contained scatters of stone artefacts, predominantly in quartz (milky and clear) and cryptocrystalline silica (CCS) with silcrete, quartzite and other rocks more rarely represented (Figure 4.22: Stone artefacts that occurred near the base of hill on the western side of the site (J Orton, 2012)) © Aurecon (2012) No unauthorised reproduction, copy or adaptation, in whole or in part, may be made. P:\Projects\108495 Kangnas WEF & PV EIA's\3 Project Delivery\4 Reports\FEIR\FEIR 210213 Final.doc
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wat elk ongeveer 40 x 5 m groot is.
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