Lonehill Dam is cleaned
LONEHILL – Lonehill volunteers spent 27 January clearing away invasive species which have enveloped Lonehill Dam.
On 27 January, members of the Lonehill community put their backs into fighting invasive species growing in the Lonehill Dam.
The Lonehill Residents Association (LRA) called for volunteers to help remove kariba and milfoil weeds from the dam, as both are deemed category 1B invasive species.
This means that they have an impact on South African ecosystems, must be strictly controlled and should be removed and destroyed whenever possible.
“Storm water run-off [which enters the dam regularly] is contaminated and generally nutrient-rich,” explained Maryke Blewett, estate manager for the LRA, on the organisation’s Facebook account.
“The lack of circulation combined with nutrient-rich water, as well as the decrease of water depth due to the silting up of the dam, promotes the growth of the two main invasive weeds.”
As the kariba weed grows, it floats on top of the water while the milfoil weed will grow on the bottom of the dam.
On 27 January, the volunteers used rakes, poles and other instruments to clear away as much of the vegetation as they were able to and then stacked the plants at the upstream side of the dam so that they would not be washed away during the next rains and cause issues downstream.
“It was a great turnout and the LRA would like to thank those who came out to help,” said Shelley Miller of the association.
“We still have a long way to go [to fight invasive species and care for the dam], but this was a good start.”
If residents from Lonehill and the greater Fourways area would like to get involved, please follow the Lonehill Envirofund Facebook page to keep up with all the news or call the estate manager on 011 465 9196.
Details: LRA Facebook page.
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