coaltech upper olifants river catchment wetland inventory ...

1. drainage lines with riparian zones,
2. midslope seepage wetlands,
3. non-permanently wet pans,
4. seasonally inundated valley bottom floodplain without footslope seepage, and
5. seasonally inundated valley bottom floodplains with footslope seepage wetlands.
One of the most polluted river systems in the region is the Olifants River System (Myburgh
1999; CSIR 2001).
ECOSUN cc (2006) has been conducting a Biological Monitoring Project in the Catchments
of the Witbank Dam and Middelburg Dam since May 1999. The monitoring conducted during
2006 coincided with the mine-water releases. The ecological components that were
assessed during the survey included:
• In situ water quality
• Invertebrate Habitat Assessment System (IHAS, version 2)
• Intermediate Habitat Integrity Assessment (IHIA)
• Aquatic Macroinvertebrate Assessment (SASS5)
• Sediment Contaminant Analysis
The Total Dissolved Salt (TDS) varied across the entire catchment. The TDS at three
sampling points exceeded the target water quality guideline limits for the management units.
These sampling points were located at:
• The Olifants River at Wolvekrans Colliery, immediately upstream of the Witbank
Dam;
• Woestalleenspruit, approximately 1km upstream of the of the confluence of the Klein
Olifants River; and
• Klein Olifants River, approximately 1km before Bosmanspruit confluence (ECOSUN
2006).
The IHAS conducted during the current investigation indicated significant increases in the
Instream Habitat Availability were observed at: (ECOSUN 2006)
• The Rietspruit, approximately 1km upstream of the Rietspruit Dam;
• Koningspruit before the confluence with the Olifants River;
• Naauwpoortspruit at Control Point B1H019;
Wetland Database for UORC - 46 -