Statement by Minister for Agriculture): On Floods in the Swartland Area

Parts of the Swartland area received high intensity and constant rainfall from the night of the 6th June to the 11th June 2007, which caused flooding to the towns of Moorreesburg, Hopefield, Vredenburg, Piketberg, Porterville and the surrounding agricultural areas. This high rainfall fell in a broad band from the mountains of Citrusdal to above mentioned towns and figures of up to 120mm per day were recorded in areas. This rainfall was on top of a relatively saturated soil profile, which caused excessive run-off and soil erosion. This high rainfall has caused an excessive volume of water run-off in the Bergriver and its tributaries. These swollen rivers have started eroding their banks and even changing their course causing extremely high erosion damage.

Preliminary Assessment

The affected area is the Swartland area and high lying areas of the adjacent mountain range. A more detailed survey to determine the extent of the flooding is still under way.

The flooding has had an effect on agriculture already in the following ways, but the true extent of the damage cannot be determined until the flooding has subsided:

1. The Goedverwacht township forms part of the affected area and a preliminary inspection revealed that the river had caused damage to the bridge within the township. This should be followed up as soon as possible as it is the only access road to the township from people living on the western side. Children have been warned and will be informed today again not to move close to the swollen river banks as they pose a serious threat to calving due to the sandy texture of the soil. The agricultural officer at Goedverwacht is monitoring the situation and has been informed about the forecasted rainfall.

2. Recently planted grain crops could be waterlogged to such an extent that the grain will be destroyed and would have to be replanted, if funding and timing allows.

3. The riparian area of the lower Berg and Kleinberg rivers were flooded to such an extent that even electric transmission units were submerged for periods under water, suggesting that this flood was at a very high level. The type of damage to these areas would be infrastructure such as roads, bridges, buildings, pipelines, the electricity network, fencing and high soil erosion losses. Crops damage from water logging of orchards and orchards was evident in the lands adjacent to the river areas. Prolonged water logging would cause the destruction of these vineyards and orchards.

4. Surface erosion of a few lands was noticed, but in most cases the contour systems where functioning well and minimised the soil loss.

5. Water logging of the grain lands in low-lying areas was in most cases prevented by ridge and furrow drainage systems constructed by the farmers, but the forecasted 5 days of rainfall could be too much for these systems to hold and prolonged water logging could cause the destruction of grain crops.

6. Most of the farmers contacted during this flood have advanced early warning systems to alert them to these predictions as they rely heavily on climate data to conduct their business in the Swartland area.

Preparedness

All daily warnings were given to the farmers and as mentioned above they do not rely on one source of information. The Provincial Department of Agriculture is well prepared for the looming disaster and is still busy tending to 3 other disaster areas in the Province. Other sectors such as the roads, ambulance and traffic service providers were well represented during our inspection and were monitoring the situation closely. Almost every bridge had an officer present monitoring the flood.

Response from the Department of Agriculture

The Department has done a preliminary inspection of the area and will monitor the situation on an ongoing basis. The Goedverwacht bridge and area will be monitored and warnings have been given to children to refrain from moving to close to the river. The Resource Conservation Committee has been alerted to the situation and will report any damage to the Department.

Conclusion and recommendations

In conclusion the flooding has caused extensive infrastructure and soil erosion damage to the riparian zones of the Bergriver and Kleinberg rivers as well as tributaries of the Bergriver.

It is recommended that a survey be conducted to establish the extent of the damage once the flooding has subsided. Organised agriculture has been contacted in this regard and a strategy to assess the damage and process the information will be determined within this week and all landowners will be informed of this process.

I want to assure farmers that the Department will work closely with them to assess the damages and future plans of action to be taken to support them in permissable ways.

Alie van Jaarsveld

Spokesperson

Ministry of Agriculture: Western Cape

Tel: 021 483 4930
Fax: 021 483 3890
Cell: 084 604 6701
Email: avjaarsv@pgwc.gov.za

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