Challenges to Implementing an Environmental Flow Regime in the Luvuvhu River Catchment, South Africa

Pfananani Ramulifho, Esther Ndou, Reuben Thifhulufhelwi and Tatenda Dalu
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Pfananani Ramulifho: SARCHI Chair in Biodiversity Value and Change in the Vhembe Biosphere Reserve Research Group, University of Venda, Thohoyandou 0950, South Africa
Esther Ndou: Centre for Water Resources Research, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Scottsville 3209, South Africa
Reuben Thifhulufhelwi: Environmental Learning and Research Centre, Rhodes University, Grahamstown 6140, South Africa
Tatenda Dalu: Aquatic Systems Research Group, Department of Ecology and Resource Management, University of Venda, Thohoyandou 0950, South Africa

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 19, 1-12

Abstract: Rivers are now facing increasing pressure and demand to provide water directly for drinking, farming and supporting industries as a result of rapidly growing global human population. Globally, the most common practice for catchment managers is to limit water abstraction and changes to stream flow by setting environmental flow standards that guard and maintain the natural ecosystem characteristics. Since the development of the environmental flow concept and methods in South Africa, very few studies have assessed the institutional constraints towards environmental flow implementation. This study determined stream flow trends over time by fitting simple linear regression model to mean daily stream flow data at three selected stations in the Luvuvhu River Catchment (LRC). We also conducted a literature search to review, firstly the response of aquatic organisms (fish and macroinvertebrate) to changes in habitat conditions and secondly on local challenges affecting the sustainable implementation of environmental flow regime and related water resources management strategies. All the three stream flow stations show decreasing stream flow volume of 1 and 2 orders of magnitude faster in some stations with the possibility that flow will cease in the near future. Qualitative analyses from both local and international literature search found that the main challenges facing the implementation of sustainable flow strategies and management are absence of catchment management agency, lack of understanding of environmental flow benefits, limited financial budget, lack of capacity and conflict of interest. Rivers with changing stream flows tend to lose sensitive species. The development of scientifically credible catchment-wide environmental flow and abstraction thresholds for rivers within the LRC would make a major contribution in minimizing the declining stream flow volumes. Monitoring and reporting should be prioritized to give regular accounts of the state of our rivers.

Keywords: catchment management; environmental flows; Luvuvhu Rivers; stream flow; water allocation; water use (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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