Appendix O2 - Biophysical Report.pdf - Zitholele.co.za

February 2011 43 12619“Many riparian areas display wetland indicators and should be classified as wetlands. However,other riparian areas are not saturated long enough or often enough to develop wetlandcharacteristics, but also perform a number of important functions, which need to be safeguarded…Riparian areas commonly reflect the high-energy conditions associated with the water flowing in awater channel, whereas wetlands display more diffuse flow and are lower energy environments.”DelineationThe site was investigated for the occurrence / presence of wetlands and riparian areas, using themethodology described above and described in more detail in the DWA guidelines.6.2 Terrain Unit IndicatorThe study area ranges from 2,000 mamsl (metres above mean sea level) to less than 100 mamsl.The highest parts of the study area are in the northern western portions (Wakkerstroom andGroenvlei) and the lowest portions are in the south eastern portions of the study area (Empangeni).Due to the size of the study area the topography varies from flat plains to deeply incised valleys asshown in Figure 2-1 to Figure 2-3.As it can be seen from the map the routes start on the eastern Highveld (Ermelo, Amersfoort, PietRetief) and traverse over the north-eastern escarpment (Volksrust, Wakkerstroom, Utrecht, PaulPietersburg) before entering into the rolling hills of the KZN midland (Vryheid, Gluckstadt, Melmoth,Nqutu) and finally ending the route in the lowveld (Empangeni).According to the DWA guidelines the valley bottom is the terrain unit where wetlands are mostlikely to occur, but the occurrence of wetlands is not excluded from any of the other terrain units.6.3 Soil Form IndicatorDue to the large size of the site the soils on site were broken into management unit with similarcharacteristics. These were:• Good and Average Agricultural Soils;• Shallow Soils;• Transitional and Clay (Poor Transitional) Soils; and• Disturbed Soils / Hard Rock.The transitional as well as the poor transitional soils identified in the soil assessment section couldpotentially be wetland soils as they have clay accumulation. The clay soils are mostly typical of thepermanent and seasonal wetland zone while the transitional soils can be found in temporarywetland zones.ZITHOLELE CONSULTING