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Report No 678-F-001
METSI CONSULTANTS: SUMMARY OF MAIN FINDINGS FOR PHASE 1 DEVELOPMENT
12.1. PURPOSE OF THE MONITORING PROGRAMME
SECTION 12. MONITORING PROGRAMME
Monitoring of an ecosystem is a continuing process whereby the condition of key ecosystem components are
measured at repeated intervals following a disturbance and the results compared with the same kinds of data
collected prior to the disturbance. The monitoring described here is specifically related to the IFR determination
described above, and should be distinguished from that required in the application of mitigation and
compensation. The latter would include several components of the former but in addition would need to more
specifically address resource use and the interacting changes over time between reduction in resources used
pre-project and replacement of alternatives post-project.
The disturbances addressed in the IFA would be the ongoing and future construction of in-channel dams on rivers
that would affect the flow regimes, water chemistry, and sediment and temperature regimes and, as a knock-on
effect, their fauna and flora. As discussed in the preceding sections of this report, the disturbances to the rivers
could be reduced by careful manipulation of flow releases from the dams. Monitoring of the flows and their effects
on downstream ecosystems and communities is an essential part of their implementation. Thus once a scenario
has been decided upon and implemented, a monitoring programme should be implemented to:
establish whether or not the agreed-on IFR is being released;
verify if the objectives linked to different components of the flow regime are being achieved;
guide adjustments of either the IFR or the objective, if the overall objective is not being achieved.
The ecosystem components and sub-components that would eventually be included in the monitoring programme
would depend to some extent on the chosen scenario. As a specific scenario or operating regime has yet to be
selected, a generic monitoring programme is described here which includes:
all the disciplines addressed in the study, including biophysical, social, health and economic
components, to the extent deemed necessary by the respective specialists;
activities for assessing the efficacy of the different parts or aspects of the flow regime, where applicable.
12.2. MONITORING SITES
12.2.1 Biophysical Sites
Ideally, the monitoring programme should make use of the same eight biophysical sites as the IFR study, and two
additional sites should be incorporated into the monitoring programme as reference sites. Potential locations for
reference sites would be on the Matsoku River upstream of the headwaters of Matsoku Weir (a reference site for
IFR Site 1) and on the Senqu River downstream of Mokhotlong (a reference site for IFR Sites 2, 3 and 7).
On a more practical basis, however, Phase 1 effects on downstream ecosystems, the natural resource bases and
the use of such resources would be much more evident in the proximal reaches, i.e., reaches immediately below
the LHWP structures (Reaches 1,2,3 and 7 – see Table 10.1 in Section 10) and monitoring should focus primarily
on these areas.
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