Buffalo City’s aging wastewater treatment infrastructure is crumbling under the weight of rapid development, leading to frequent sewage spills into vital water bodies like the Gonubie estuary.
In response, concerned locals are taking action with the formation of the Gonubie Estuary Management Forum (GEM), set to launch this month.
Their mission? To develop a comprehensive estuary management plan (EMP) aimed at safeguarding the struggling Gonubie estuary from further degradation and ensuring its long-term protection.
Gonubie estuary forms part of the Amathole ecologically or biologically significant marine area (EBSA) which includes the biggest single collection of significant and special marine features in all of SA and provides a habitat for juvenile fish.
The Gonubie estuary is also a popular tourism site and used for boating, swimming, fishing, and a launch site for ski boats going to sea.
Despite its significance, it has become susceptible to increasing pollution from sewage overflows which if left unchecked, could result in permanently negatively altering the estuary’s water quality.
This will have deleterious effects on the estuary including fish deaths, the spread of invasive species, parasites, pathogens, diseases and eutrophication.
Gonubie estuary is also vulnerable to modification by illegal bank stabilisation, jetty constructions and high levels of fishing.
Currently, the Gonubie estuary is considered by ecologists as only lightly transformed with a B ecological status, but this means its preservation is dependent on it not experiencing any further deterioration especially from sewage overflows.
If the city were to allow the Gonubie estuary to fall into permanent ruin, this would be a huge blow to local tourism, water sports and biodiversity.
Recognising this, the GEM executive said its members are launching the forum and pursuing the development and implementation of an EMP for Gonubie estuary because now, more than ever, these steps are vital for the estuary’s survival.
The Coastal Management Act requires all estuaries to have EMPs, which are then implemented by the department of economic development, environmental affairs and tourism (DEDEAT) with the assistance of the estuary management forum.
Estuaries are very sensitive, extremely valuable and easily damaged ecosystems and an EMP will not only protect Gonubie estuary but surrounding Amathole marine life, as well.
In addition to the EMP the GEM also plans to assist in the eradication of alien plants and illegal poaching, hunting, and fishing activities, form anti-litter campaigns and establish water quality monitoring groups with community members.
The GEM’s Mandy Uys said: “We are in the process of developing a GEM community group that will, among other actions, keep eyes on the estuary and on possible pollution sources.
“We have been offered the use of a database to record and track incidents, so we will be able to keep track of incident reports and responses.
“We also really want to work co-operatively with Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality (BCMM) as seen this collaboration work on other estuaries.
“Once it is complete, the EMP will provide guidance on managing estuarine water quality and quantity, and on means of ensuring that the activities taking place in the estuary do not impact further on the estuarine ecology and biological productivity.
“This will require active management, particularly of pollution spills.
“It’s important that the public understands that care of the river, estuary and ocean is a mutual responsibility and relies on their interest, buy-in, enthusiasm and participation.”
Researchers for the African Journal of Aquatic Science in 2020 found that nutrient enrichment, caused by wastewater discharges and urban runoff, is the main cause of deteriorating water quality in SA estuaries.
In areas where urban runoff and effluent discharges are dominant, the water quality of the affected estuary is categorised as severely or critically modified.
Researchers have also found that overlapping mandates in government departments create confusion over responsibility for estuarine water quality management.
This is exacerbated by corruption, which results in the disappearance of money that should be allocated for upgrades of essential infrastructure like wastewater treatment works.
It is recommended that engineering solutions must be found at local level to reduce and improve diffuse wastewater inputs into estuaries.
The GEM is officially launching on October 17 at 6pm at Gonubie Bowling Club and all interested in contributing to the plans are invited.
Also on October 17, the Centre for Local Community Rights (CLCR) will be back in court to pursue an order against the BCMM that seeks to put an end to intermittent sewage overflows into the Gonubie River, caused by a frequently backed up pump station down the road from Gonubie Primary School.
CLCR aims to see that the municipality implements a back up power supply at the pump station and separate the sewage overflow facility from the stormwater system as load-shedding or power outages caused by vandalism for longer than three hours causes the sewage overflow to flow into the stormwater and eventually into the river.
