Quantifying and Predicting the Water Quality Associated with Land Cover Change: A Case Study of the Blesbok Spruit Catchment, South Africa

Abstract

Abstract:The integrity of the Blesbok Spruit catchment has been significantly compromised over the past decades, mainly due to the discharge of mining effluent and sewage. This research investigated the hydrological responses, in terms of water quality, in the event of land cover change within the catchment to make predictions on the future sustainability of the region's water resources with the application of Partial Least Squares (PLS) regression analysis. The quantification of hydrological responses in terms of water quality towards land cover changes has not been completed by previous research studies within the catchment. This research established the catchment's present state of water quality and formulated PLS model equations to enable the prediction of future concentrations of specific water quality parameters in association with future land cover change. A change in land cover was found to have various negative influences. The retransformation of land cover into natural areas is accompanied with unintended and undesirable effects due to the degradation of the catchment's buffering capabilities and the absence of the enforcement of the decommissioning of mining operations. For the Blesbok Spruit catchment to avoid a future water predicament, systematic and interdisciplinary measures need to be implemented OPEN ACCESSWater 2014, 6 2947 according to these and other related findings, to ensure the future sustainability of the catchment and the region as a whole.

Model predictive control strategy of energy-water management in urban households

“…South Africa, a semi-arid nation, is not only included in the worldwide trend of inefficient management of both energy and water but also has her demand far higher than the supply [17,18]. The population growth rates and trends in socio-economic development indicate that South Africa's freshwater resources cannot sustain the current patterns of water consumption and discharge.…”

A reduction in mining and industrial effluents in the Blesbokspruit Ramsar wetland, South Africa: Has the quality of the surface water in the wetland improved?

“…South African Wetlands Conservation Programme (1999) Approximately 40 km south-east of Johannesburg, between 26° 12'S -26° 23'S latitude and 28° 29' -28° 32'E longitude, is the Blesbokspruit Wetland, designated by the Ramsar Convention as a Wetland of International Importance (Haskins and Compaan, 1998;Ekurhuleni Municipality, 2008). This wetland is one of the largest in Southern Africa, and the only Ramsar site in Gauteng Province, covering an area of 1 858 ha in the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality, at an altitude of 1 585 m amsl (AngloGold Ashanti, 2004;Ekurhuleni Municipality, 2008;Du Plessis et al, 2014). The Blesbokspruit Wetland is surrounded by 5 towns in the East Rand region -Springs, Boksburg, Benoni, Brakpan and Nigel -making this wetland an important ecosystem within a highly urbanised economic hub.…”

“…The Blesbokspruit Wetland is surrounded by 5 towns in the East Rand region -Springs, Boksburg, Benoni, Brakpan and Nigel -making this wetland an important ecosystem within a highly urbanised economic hub. The wetland serves as a buffer for the water entering the Vaal River, the main source of water for Gauteng's socio-economic activities (Eastern Basin Blesbokspruit Catchment Task Team, 2006;Hoare et al, 2008;Du Plessis et al, 2014).…”

“…Water in the Blesbokspruit Wetland became highly saline and acidic (Scott, 1995;Wood and Reddy, 1998;Van Wyk and Munnik, 1998;Thorius, 2004;Schoeman and Steyn, 2001;Jones and Wagener, 2011;Nyeleti Network for Built Environment, 2011). The Blesbokspruit Wetland was then declared ecologically degraded, and in 1996 this Ramsar site was included in the Montreux Record, a register which lists potentially threatened or degraded Ramsar sites that are no longer in compliance with criteria of the Ramsar Convention (South African Wetlands Conservation Programme, 1998;Ramsar Convention Secretariat, 2007;Adair et al, 2012;Durand, 2012;De Wet and Sidu, 2013;Du Plessis et al, 2014).…”

“…As a water-scarce country, South Africa needs to wisely use its existing water resources, which include the Blesbokspruit Wetland (Uys, 2004;Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality, 2008;Du Plessis et al, 2014). The Blesbokspruit Wetland is an important source of water for irrigation, livestock, sociocultural, recreational, domestic and industrial activities as well as sustaining aquatic biota within highly urbanised and industrial surroundings (South African Wetlands Conservation Programme, 1999;Van der Merwe, 2003;Thorius, 2004;Naledzi Environmental Consultants, 2007;Ekurhuleni Municipality, 2008;Macfarlane and Muller, 2011).…”