Thread by @WaterHlengi

Today we spent a chilly day out in the uMkhomazi catchment in the south of Kwa-Zulu Natal with a group of stakeholders who are mutually concerned about water security in the catchment #Water #SharedBenefits #SharedRisks

Why this catchment?
1. The Mkhomazi River is the 3rd largest river in KZN, with major infrastructure projects on the horizon #Water #InfrastructureDevelopment

2. It's identified as possible solution to long term water deficits in uMngeni catchment #WaterDemand #InfrastructureDevelopment

3. The Mngeni supplies the economic power house of Durban and Pietermaritzburg #Economics #WaterAsAnEconomicDriver #DevelopingCountry

4. The Mkhomazi River supplies water to @SappiSouthernA Saiccor mill, a significant contributor to the KZN economy #Forests #Pulp #ForestProducts #ForestWaterNexus

The day began at Lundy's Weir with Duncan Hay of #INR giving us an overview of the UEIP and Futhi Vilakazi of @UmgeniWater highlighting the need for #InfrastructureDevelopment in the catchment #Partnerships #WaterSecurity #WaterSourceAreas

Here already we began to delve into the risks facing the catchment, sedimentation a key risk for the proposed Smithfield Dam #InfrastructureDevelopment project and how #EcologicalInfrastructure can play a key role in mitigating that risk #WaterSourceAreas

Traveling onto our next stop, the Mapanekeni community at the top of the catchment, the source of the sediment became clear...heavy livestock grazing and highly erodible soils #degradation #grasslands #EcologicalInfrastructure

The restoration project at Mapanekeni showed us the opportunities for #EcologicalInfrastructure restoration, livelihoods and building community resilience #WaterSourceAreas

This project is not without it's challenges, developing a sustainable rural economy, capacity building, sustainable livelihoods, community by-in for conversation agriculture approaches, alien plant clearing are only but a few #WaterSourceAreas #Catchments #People #Livelihoods

Our stop at Solokohlo was a stark contrast to the rural communal areas, now entering into a productive #forestry and #agricultural landscape

Here the importance of intact buffers and riparian areas was an important discussion. Implementation of best practice in productive landscapes a key aspect to a water secure catchment #WaterSourceAreas #WaterStewardship #EcologicalInfrastructure

Off course we can talk #plantations without talking #StreamFlowReduction and #ClimateChange... Dave Everard of @SappiSouthernA was on hand to talk us through sustainable forest management #forests #ClimateAdaptation #Certification

With hungry tummies we made it down to Ngudwini Dam, an important dam for industrial and domestic water supply on a tributary of the Mkhomazi River

Ngudwini Dam on Sappi's Comrie #plantation a key resource for keeping Saiccor Mill in production during the dry season and importance resource for domestic water supply in the #HarryGwalaDM

Following a meaty discussion of shared water resource infrastructure and a wholesome lunch, we headed off to our final stop in the heart of commercial #agriculture in the catchment to pick up on our discussion on buffers #EcologicalInfrastructure #WaterStewardship

Agriculture, pegged as the 3rd largest water user in the catchment could not be left out of this day of enquiry #WaterSourceAreas #WaterStewardship

So what did learn?
1. For long term #WaterSecurity in this highly diverse Mkhomazi catchment, good #WaterGovernance is absolutely key to bring together multiple stakeholders #Partnerships

2. We all have a role to play #CollectiveAction...from the restoring #EcologicalInfrastructure in the communal areas at the top of the catchment to reduce sediment loading into Smithfield Dam #InfrastructureDevelopment...

...to implementing best practice in the #plantations to ensure sustainable #forest management...

...rehabilitating buffer zones in the #agricultural landscape...

...and managing shared water #Infrastructure to benefit industry downstream (Saiccor) and domestic water supply #SharedBenefits. Collectively a water secure catchment is possible #CollectiveAction #WaterStewardship

3. #ClimateChange and #SocialDevelopment will continue to drive up water demand...we must begin with this in mind, finding solutions not only to our water challenges today but also anticipating what's yet to come #ClimateAdaptation

It was really a great honour for me to host this fantastic group of diverse stakeholders, who are all ready to come together and secure their water future #WaterSourceAreas #WaterSourceAreas #Partnerships

@threadreaderapp unroll