Hyacinth coverage on Hartbeespoort Dam is now less than 3% and the aim is to keep it this way.
Magalies Water said last week, through its appointment of Hayamatla, that mechanical harvesting is currently used as one of its interventions to remove floating substances like hyacinth and debris from the dam wall of Hartbeespoort Dam.
“The aim is to keep coverage less than 5%. This has been successfully maintained as coverage is now less than 3% since April 2024. This intervention addresses several objectives in the turnaround strategy by the water board in collaboration with the Department of Water and Sanitation South Africa.”
During a stakeholder meeting recently, Magalies Water said the Hartbeespoort Dam Rehabilitation Project was headed in the right direction as more stakeholders get on board. During the stakeholder session held on board the ALBA boat on the dam, Magalies Water hosted stakeholders from Blue Planet, the American Chemical Society, Hyamatla, Baylor University in America, and the Pecanwood Home Owners Association, among others. A number of solutions were presented in relation to the rehabilitation and long-term sustainability of the dam as a tourist attraction. Some of the proposed integrated resource management solutions include the manual removal of hyacinth, bio-control, nanobubble technology, Citizen Science and international scientific scholarly advisory.
“We really need each other in order for the project to succeed and I am so excited to see that the network is growing and as the implementing agent, Magalies Water is open to more partnerships,” said Kele Mogamisi, the general manager of MagaliesWater Communications and Stakeholder Relations department.