Ward 2 Development Forum

Zonderend Water Users Association

Properties3
descriptionThe association of water users on the Riviersonderend. Through its Restoring the Riviersonderend project it clears invasive plants along the river and grows indigenous plants for restoration at a nursery in Genadendal.
tagseconomic/farmers-land-water, theme/environment, theme/water, priority/conservation-environment, lang/en
aliasesZWUA, Z-WUA, Restoring the Riviersonderend

3 min read

For the Zonderend Water Users Association to review

This page is waiting for the Zonderend Water Users Association to check it. It is published now so that they can see how it fits with the rest of the site. Until they have approved the text, it may change. Questions for them:

  1. Is this description of ZWUA and its work correct? What would you like to change?
  2. The page says the Riviersonderend flows into Theewaterskloof Dam, the largest dam in the Western Cape. Is that right?
  3. How should visitors arrange to see the Genadendal nursery?
  4. The page lists no needs yet. What would help you most: volunteers, skills, funding, equipment, premises, members, participants, customers, or partners?
  5. Should readers reach you through the moderators, or would you like a public contact listed?

The Zonderend Water Users Association (ZWUA) brings together the people who use water from the Riviersonderend [MS]. Its aim is to manage the river’s water responsibly, so that all water users have fresh water for generations to come [MS]. It works with water users and other stakeholders to restore and conserve the river, and to create jobs for local people while doing so [MS].

The Riviersonderend flows into Theewaterskloof Dam, the largest dam in the Western Cape [TBV]. Its banks were once lined with palmiet wetlands, which hold water, slow floods, and stop erosion. Invasive trees such as pines, Port Jackson, blue gums, and black wattle have crowded out the palmiet in many places [MS].

WWF South Africa started a project to clear invasive plants along the river in 2013, with funding from government and private partners. At the end of 2017 it handed the project to ZWUA, which named it Restoring the Riviersonderend [MS].

Needs

None stated yet.

Offers

  • Clearing along the river. Removing invasive trees from the riverbanks. ZWUA clears with Wild Restoration in the Greyton Sandpit, and works with the Greyton Conservation Society [IC].
  • Restoration. Replanting cleared areas with indigenous plants, and rescuing indigenous plants from building sites along the river to replant them later [MS]
  • The Genadendal nursery. An indigenous plant nursery in Genadendal that grows palmiet and other local species for restoration. It is open to the public, but ZWUA asks visitors to get in touch first [MS].
  • Jobs. A team of 14 workers, employed through the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP), runs the nursery [MS]

How to get involved

Get in touch through the ZWUA website before visiting the nursery. For anything else, contact the moderators via How to Submit.

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