From wetland to waste land - Human activities threaten Gauteng treasure

Abstract

Wetlands Even during Johannesburg’s early years, when prospectors gathered from all over the world on the dusty outcrops of the Witwatersrand to share in its metal and mineral riches, the importance of the Klip River wetland could not be denied. Its underlying groundwater resources provided the first reliable water supply to the growing towns of the Witwatersrand gold field. It was only when the Vaal Barrage was completed in 1923 that groundwater became a less important source of supply to the towns of the Witwatersrand. In the early days the Klip River was also a significant agricultural area, with parts of the wetland being drained and irrigation canals and diagonal drains criss-crossing the wetland area. However, it is for its latest function that the wetland is most treasured, namely, for its ability to treat the polluted waters arising from the western section of the Witwatersrand urban-industrialmining complex.

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