Following the recent heavy rains, the Lake St Lucia Estuary mouth breached naturally on Thursday as water flooded in from the Umfolozi River
Arguably the most amazing place to visit in the greater Zululand region and one of the largest estuarine systems in Southern Africa, it is functioning as a tidal estuarine system once again, and is truly a sight to behold.
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It falls within the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, which is South Africa’s first World Heritage site (recognised by UNESCO in 1999).
In recent years, the estuarine system has not been able to function naturally.
For decades, sugar farmers have pressured conservation authorities to regularly artificially breach the mouth of Lake St Lucia to protect their farms from water inundation in the now largely canalised sections of the Umfolozi River floodplain.
The torrential rains which swept through KZN this past week brought a significant rise in water levels, which eventually broke open the mouth.
The breaching came amidst heated debate from a multitude of interested and affected parties, with court action threatened and a land invasion protest action by subsistence farmers.
But Mother Nature has settled the acrimonious conflict out of court in the best way possible.
With more than 350ml of rain recorded in St Lucia this week, resident Robbie Hanson says he has never seen the lake’s water levels so high.
However, Hanson added that he cannot see the mouth staying open very long.
‘The lake is as full as I have ever seen it, and I have been visiting the lake since I was a little boy. Everything, including boats and yachts, was under water – a result of the high levels due to the rain.
‘The mouth will not stay open for very long because even though there is water, there isn’t any depth in the water,’ said Hanson.
The mouth opening also comes almost two weeks after an independent scientific panel submitted their report of findings to Minister Barbara Creecy on the significance/impact of the opening of the estuary mouth and how this relates to the implementation of the GEF 5 project interventions and the St Lucia Estuary Management Plan.
Creecy had appointed the panel following widespread public interest on the matter, as well as differing scientific views on the most ideal management strategy for the conservation and preservation of this significant World Heritage Site.
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