Hopes choke in parched river

Protected Touw wetland system now too shallow to deal with any significant flooding

GARDEN Route residents have raised concerns over the Touw River system, saying the “shallow river will never again be able to cope with a huge flood”.

Part of the protected Wilderness Lakes and Wetland System, the river is an important link between the Indian Ocean and the large catchment areas in the Outeniqua Mountains.

Southern Cape Landowners Initiative (SCLI) member Cobus Meiring said that besides providing all of the Wilderness, Hoekwil, Touwsrandten and the rural and farming communities with fresh water, the river played a vital role in the Garden Route’s ecology, both marine and terrestrial.

“Over the past two decades the Touw River has become significantly shallower and the channels narrower, with reeds encroaching.

“As a safety measure against flooding of bordering properties, the river mouth is bulldozed regularly, but there

“A good volume of water is a main driver of ensuring estuary health Nandi Mgwadlamba SAN Parks spokesperson

is no hope of the river flushing out the sand and silt, choking it slowly.

“The real and present danger of the Touw River system is that it will never again be able to cope with a huge flood.

“Combined with an Indian Ocean storm surge and strong wind, water from the mountains will have no place to go, even with the river mouth open,” Meiring said.

SANParks spokesperson Nandi Mgwadlamba said unlike the Knysna Estuary, which is permanently open to the sea, the Touw River Estuary has an open and closed phase.

“The management of the Touw River mouth, which includes the mechanical breaching, is done according to prescribed management practices contained in the Garden Route

National Park Management Plan.

“This plan is approved by the National Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries,” she said.

Meiring added that the SCLI, along with SANParks and the Touw River Conservancy, have helped many landowners draw up invasive alien control plans, but a lot more was needed to save the river.

Mgwadlamba said climate change modelling for the Garden Route suggested that the area will experience an increase in coastal storms and more intense rainfall.

“SANParks supports the clearing of invasive alien plants in the catchment area as the supply of a good volume of water, as well water of good quality, is one the main ecological drivers of ensuring estuary health,” she said.