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SAEON extends period of financial support to Jonkershoek
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- Dr Amani Saidi, Manager: Stakeholder Relations, SAEON
In 1938 the South African Forestry Research Institute or SAFRI, as it was known then, commissioned the Jonkershoek experimental catchment network and long-term monitoring programme.
In those early years the research programme and catchments were managed by the then Department of Forestry through the South African Forestry Research Institute (SAFRI).
When SAFRI was incorporated into the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), the responsibility for maintaining these studies remained with the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF), but was contracted out to the CSIR.
In 1996 the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF) entered into a long-term contract with the CSIR to provide financial support for the programme. However, in 2004 the Forestry Branch of DWAF indicated that the support for the Jonkershoek catchment hydrological monitoring programme was no longer in line with its future strategic directions, and the funding was terminated.
Thereafter the CSIR continued to support the activities of the monitoring programme on its own until the first half of the 2007/8 financial year, when it was made known that the programme would be discontinued due to lack of funding.
As the national custodian of long-term environmental observation systems and data, SAEON motivated for the continuation of the programme, arguing that the uninterrupted long-term data sets for the Jonkershoek catchment would be vital for future research, particularly in the area of impacts of climate change.
Running dry
SAEON further argued that, on the basis of the available data, a picture of retrogression in rainfall amounts and hydrological output in the Jonkershoek catchment was emerging, and that more sets of data could confirm the “running dry” situation. If confirmed, such a situation could obviously impact negatively on the sustainability of water supplies for the City of Cape Town.
DWAF, while agreeing to review its earlier decision to cease funding the programme, mandated SAEON to enter into agreement with the CSIR to support the programme for the second half of the 2007/8 financial year. As the new financial year (2008/9) set in, it became clear that DWAF had not yet finalised its plans to resume funding the programme.
Once again, SAEON took the initiative to discuss the matter with DWAF and was subsequently requested to extend its financial support for the programme for another six months (March to August 2008). SAEON then signed a contract with the CSIR that allowed the Jonkershoek catchment hydrological monitoring programme to proceed without interruption.
The good news is that DWAF has subsequently agreed to resume its funding of the programme. This important step not only signifies a guarantee to continue with the Jonkershoek catchment hydrological programme, but also a commitment on the part of DWAF to resurrect hitherto discontinued catchment monitoring programmes in Jakkalsrivier, Zachariashoek and Moordkuil in Western Cape; Kubusi in Eastern Cape; Cathedral Peak in KwaZulu-Natal; Uitsoek and Witklip in Mpumalanga; and Westfalia in Limpopo.
