Closure of Water Points in Kruger National Park

Information and Discussions on Water Management in Kruger
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H. erectus
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Re: Demolition of Water Points in Kruger

Post by H. erectus »

I appreciate the scientific argument as below,

http://www.wildcard.co.za/drought-futur ... f-54941197

Fact is, why go about in such demonstrative manner
by using dynamite and heavy machinery to prove a point!!!

Why not just gently isolate the structures and put them rest
for now.!! Cap the wells!! Who knows what the future holds??

What's there is there, no need for dynamite and implosion tactics,..


Heh,.. H.e
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nan
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Re: Demolition of Water Points in Kruger

Post by nan »

you are so right Erectus \O

It’s a misconception that a high density of waterholes during droughts would be of benefit. In fact, most herbivores that die during droughts die due to the lack of food rather than the lack of water. Simply stated, if you provide a lot of waterholes, the number of water-dependent herbivores can increase unnaturally in years leading up to a drought, reducing food availability during the ensuing drought and increasing starvation-induced deaths. What’s more, veld condition is also affected as grazing is spread over a wider landscape. In short, by providing water, you can reduce the food available during droughts, which may ultimately increase the number of animals that die.
and not a good excuse... around waterholes/dams there is grass/food... and water is more important, we can survive 60 days... but with water ;-)


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Re: Demolition of Waterholes in Kruger

Post by Lisbeth »

H. erectus wrote:I just cannot for the life of me understand why dynamite
needs to be used,. For goodness sake???

Just cap the darned well and remove the ugly structures!!!

Geesh are we here trying to prove a point by means of
overkill!!! For goodness sake Sanparks most of those
structures come from generous donation,.....


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Re: Demolition of Water Points in Kruger

Post by mposthumus »

Live in and for the moment only - no long-term vision for the future, not for nature and not even for their descendants who follow 0*\ @#$
REALLY!!!! :evil: :evil:


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Re: Demolition of Water Points in Kruger

Post by Richprins »

I'll dissect later, but this is as disappointing as the elephant stuff. :no:


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Re: Demolition of Water Points in Kruger

Post by Lisbeth »

They might make 5 or 10 years plans, but if they don't stick to them it is no good. The government is doing exactly the same thing. You cannot make use of all your riches NOW, because there will be nothing for tomorrow. The same thing is happening in countries like Venezuela, Angola and others. Norway has put away all their petrol income for future generations. For countries which have little else it is not necessary to put it all away, but do think also of "tomorrow".


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Re: Demolition of Water Points in Kruger

Post by Richprins »

Why did the Kruger National Park decide to close down some artificial waterholes?

When artificially provided water is widely available, it can impact the ecosystem negatively in a number of ways. Firstly, it may change the number of herbivores and their distribution. For example, if you place a waterhole in a certain area of the park where water does not occur naturally, then water dependent species like hippo, buffalo and elephant may settle in that area or visit the area more frequently. This needs more clarification, especially in differentiating between dams and boreholes. For example, hippo will not be interested in boreholes. Big buffalo herds cannot be sustained long-term by a borehole trough, nor big ellie breeding herds. Anyway, as said later, these animals' distribution is determined by food.grazing in the first place. This may have knock-on effects such as a shortage of food and changes in predator behaviour. Ultimately this may disadvantage certain less water dependent species like sable and roan. Yes indeed, but waterholes are also being demolished in the majority remainder of the Park that have never had rare antelope species, like Croc Bridge Area, for example.

Secondly, if water attracts more herbivores into a specific area, the effect of these animals on the environment will also change markedly. If you locate a waterhole in a certain area, the grazing and browsing patterns change and will impact the environment. Artificial waterpoints, most of which by far are boreholes, were introduced initially for one reason only, to enable grazers to utilise good grass areas during winter, where otherwise the grass was deemed to be wasted. This may in effect sound like farming, granted, but a lot more research is required now that 50 years have elapsed after that as to whether these areas will change back to the "pristine" condition, and whether the extra grazers had a significant impact after all?For example, if you place a waterhole in an area that used to be waterless, then elephant impact on trees in that area may increase. In short, artificial waterholes favour certain species (animals and plants alike). If artificial waterholes are available across the landscape, it will most likely have negative implications for other species.

Wouldn’t the waterholes have helped animals during the drought?

It’s a misconception that a high density of waterholes during droughts would be of benefit. In fact, most herbivores that die during droughts die due to the lack of food rather than the lack of water. As said, here is the problem. According to the logic, those animals would not have existed in the first place then.Simply stated, if you provide a lot of waterholes, the number of water-dependent herbivores can increase unnaturally in years leading up to a drought, reducing food availability during the ensuing drought and increasing starvation-induced deaths. What’s more, veld condition is also affected as grazing is spread over a wider landscape. In short, by providing water, you can reduce the food available during droughts, which may ultimately increase the number of animals that die. The vast majority that died were hippo and buffalo in ready proximity to existing "natural water" anyway, historically. A drought is a drought?



Waterholes make for great game viewing opportunities. Aren’t visitors losing out now?

We need to balance tourism and conservation objectives. At the height of the water provision programme there were more than 350 boreholes providing water for game in the park. Clearly an unnatural situation for a “semi-arid” savanna system. Many of these waterholes were not even close to tourist roads. As such, we started closing some of them since the mid-1990s when the water provision policy was changed after careful consideration and consultation and in line with scientific understanding. Although the number of artificial waterholes has been significantly reduced since then, there are still many operational waterholes available for tourists to visit and it is not our intention to remove all of them. Again, if they are wrong, they must all be removed, not just selectively.

What’s more, in some areas we have also started to take tourist roads to (natural) water sources, instead of the other way around of taking (artificial) waterholes to tourist roads! This way we can achieve our tourism objectives without compromising our conservation mandate. In my opinion this also provides a more authentic wilderness experience – a river pool makes for much better ambience and photos than a cement trough or earthen dam. This is not a scientific approach at all, and is entirely irrelevant and inconsequential regarding game management. Aesthetics and science do not mix.BUT I agree because shady waterpoint parkings take numerous vehicles off the roads for a while! The other much smaller reason why boreholes were started was to add attraction to some tourist roads during winter, IMO. The tourist aspect was caved in to anyway last year when some boreholes were reopened.One such example is the recently opened one-way loop road (off the H1-4) next to the Ngotso Stream, where the artificial Ngotso Dam was recently breached.

Kruger is also increasingly investing energy into ensuring that the rivers flowing through the park are in a good condition and receive the water necessary to keep the system healthy. This is achieved through active monitoring of the rivers and constant engagement and interaction with our shared river users outside the park and the Department of Water and Sanitation. This is where the big problem lies. The rivers, especially the "Big Five", are under immense pressure, subject to over-extraction and pollution. At the very least, existing boreholes and dams should not be dynamited. The dams will play an increasingly vital role in the future, as will boreholes in the vicinity.

These measures illustrate that we are passionate about ensuring conservation is not compromised, whilst ensuring the tourism product in Kruger remains of a high standard.

What is not being taken into account regarding all of this is the massive increase in the elephant population, which is unsustainable. They can change an ecosystem at a rate that dwarfs the slow changes brought about by grazers, and are in fact not particularly susceptible to water shortage, being the last to go as they can dig for water, travel long distances and eat anything, while hogging available water anyway. Also, the fencing in of Kruger changed migration patterns of grazers around the time that artificial water reached its height, creating an acceptable grazing solution, IMO. The Kruger of the last 50 years is the Kruger as it will be in the future. In addition, the destruction of water points as an indication of intent to return the Park to pristine condition rings hollow when seen in the light of the rampant commercialisation taking place.


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Re: Demolition of Water Points in Kruger

Post by Lisbeth »

Also, the fencing in of Kruger changed migration patterns of grazers around the time that artificial water reached its height, creating an acceptable grazing solution, IMO. The Kruger of the last 50 years is the Kruger as it will be in the future. In addition, the destruction of water points as an indication of intent to return the Park to pristine condition rings hollow when seen in the light of the rampant commercialisation taking place.
:yes: :yes:


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Re: Demolition of Water Points in Kruger

Post by Lisbeth »

The growth of the elephant population, will soon become a BIG problem!


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Kanniedood Dam to be Dynamited

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Media Release: Kruger National Park to remove Kanniedood Dam for Ecological Reasons

29 March 2018

The Kruger National Park (KNP) in conjunction with South African National Defence Force (SANDF) will demolish Kanniedood dam found on the S50, about 9km south east of Shingwedzi Camp as part of a long term rehabilitation programme from Sunday, 8 until Friday, 20 April 2018. Explosives will be used to demolish the structure; after which the rubble will be removed as part of the rehabilitation process.

“The area around the target structures will be cleared to ensure animals and human beings are safe; all roads in the areas will also be temporarily closed e.g. S50 gravel road will be closed from S50 and S143 junction in Mooiplaas up to S50 and S134 junction in Shingwedzi from 6 to 23 April 2018”, said the General Manager: Communications and Marketing, William Mabasa.

Further safety measures have been put in place as follows:

Working on Fire, SANDF and Ranger teams will be on stand-by to extinguish any wild fires that may arise.
An aerial flight will be dispatched to the area immediately prior to detonation to ensure no tourists may be in the vicinity of target.

“KNP has been closing artificial water points for a decade now, with the last being Ngotso Dam, Ngotso Weir and Gudzani windmill in December 2016. Artificial water holes where water did not previously occur naturally have led to numerous ecological problems such as erosion and other environmental degradation. This also resulted in a negative consequence for the rare herbivore species such as roan and sable antelope, increasing grazing competition by the more abundant herbivores”, explained Mabasa.

Conservation management has taken steps to rectify these negative consequences by closing and demolishing certain artificial water holes. To enhance tourist experience, alternative game viewing opportunities will be provided at areas of naturally occurring surface water.

“With the continuous research data at our disposal, we have gradually changed our outlook on biodiversity management over the years. With this data available, policies and procedures can be revisited and revised; and this is evident in the change in policy regarding water distribution in the Park” concluded Mabasa.

Issued by:
South African National Parks - Kruger National Park: Communications & Marketing Department.

Enquiries:
William Mabasa
GM: Communications and Marketing – SANParks
Tel: 013 735 4363/012 426 5170, cell: 082 807 3919
Email: william.mabasa@sanparks.org

Isaac Phaahla
Media Specialist - SANParks
Tel: 012 426 5315, cell 083 673 6974
Email: Isaac.phaahla@sanparks.org


https://www.sanparks.org/about/news/def ... p?id=57457


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