UPPER VAAL RIVER TO BARRAGE AND TRIBUTES WATER LETTUCE DISASTER
The explosion of Water Lettuce (Pistia Stratiotes) and water hyacinth on the Vaal River
immediately upstream of the Barrage. They first alerted all relevant authorities of the
looming problem in February 2022.
The Water Lettuce and Hyacinth problem is now a crisis and urgent action is required.
In 2021, Water Lettuce had never been heard of in the Vaal. Three years later, it has totally
dominated the system. The rate of change is impressive. What took 50 years to occur in
Hartebeespoort Dam, took three years to occur in the Vaal. That’s an order of magnitude
difference faster than we are familiar with.
We now expect a technical task team of 20 people, to solve the problem created by 20 000
specialists, which is moving an order of magnitude faster, to save 20 million people and two-
thirds of our national economy.
A logical conclusion to this is that unless we start to collectively realise just how close we are
to a national catastrophe of unprecedented proportions, the sooner that calamity will be upon
us.
Three decades of heroic engineering from the 1970’s to the 1990’s, we can see that rivers
were connected to create water security on which investor confidence would grow. This
meant that human migration followed, and jobs were created in what is now known as
Gauteng.
By implication, what happens in the Vaal River, on which a third of all citizens and two-
thirds of the total economy is dependent, is also a big deal.
There is a risk that the infestation can spread to the rest of the Vaal River should there be a
flood. Seeds can also spread via the current base release from the Barrage. The team is also
cognisant of the risk that the affected community faces.
