Short-term relief for Lonehill Dam

The Lonehill Dam faces a lot of problems but the Lonehill Residents Association (LRA) has implemented a number of short-term measures to keep the water source in a healthy state.

The dam has been plagued by issues for years, mostly revolving around the fact that two invasive aquatic plant species, Kariba and milfoil, have taken hold of the dam and have had a negative impact on the area’s ecosystem and drainage systems. Stormwater run-off which enters the dam regularly is contaminated and generally nutrient-rich, and the lack of circulation combined with the nutrient-rich water, as well as the decrease of water depth due to the silting up of the dam, promotes the growth of these two invasive plants.

Kariba grows on the surface of water-reducing water flow and oxygen levels which results in poor water quality. Milfoil grows on the bottom of water sources and spreads quickly, dominating the ecosystem.

Although the Joburg Roads Agency (JRA), which has authority over stormwater planning, had plans to address this issue, budgeting constraints have caused these plans to be put on hold. In the meantime, the association is finding short-term ways to address this issue.

Andre Nel, the operations manager for roads and stormwater planning for JRA, explained that the City of Joburg’s Environment and Infrastructure Services Department (EISD) and JRA had visited the dam in either late 2018 or early 2019 to see the issues first hand and come up with a plan of action.

The organisations had hoped that they could make an application to the Department of Water, Sanitation and Human Settlements for a water use licence that would have allowed EISD and JRA the power to approach the City’s budgeting office with a plan to implement at the dam, and gain the necessary funding to address the issues there.

“With the severe budget cuts that we experienced early in the third quarter of the financial year, budgets were taken away from projects that were not committed and the budgets for the planning of any projects were reduced to only the committed ones at the time,” said Nel.

“Thus, EISD/JRA will again in the new budget cycle apply for funding and if successful, we will then start with the planning process.”

Until that can happen, the association has taken it upon themselves to come up with solutions for the dam’s health. Maryke Blewett, the estate manager for the association, has implemented a number of steps to help the water source, including bio-activated carbon floating filters, doses of effective micro-organism (EM) solution and manual removal of the alien plants.

“We have installed three bio-activated carbon floating filters near the inlets in order to assist with the removal of excess nutrients and pollutants in the water,” Blewett said. “We have also started dosing the dam with EM solution which is the same as what Joburg City Parks and Zoo use in other water bodies in Johannesburg. We have brewed the solution and started putting it in the dam in September.”

And because the plants grow so rapidly, since August the association’s team has been manually removing weeds while the EM became active.

“We will continue with this combined approach to keep the weeds under control.”

Blewett and the association need help from the public to continue this important work.

“I think residents should know that this is being done and funded by the LRA’s Envirofund initiative. There is ongoing cost with this as we need to keep buying raw ingredients to brew the EM solution as well as keep staff employed to do manual work in and around the dam, so we are fully reliant on the community’s voluntary contributions.”

Blewett concluded that the association also had a number of other projects in the pipeline to ensure the health of the dam and surrounding area that they will implement when funding became available. Members of the public are welcome to volunteer to help care for the Lonehill Dam.

Details: 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.

Related Article:

https://www.citizen.co.za/fourways-review/316001/water-wednesday-dam-levels-continue-drop-across-country/