Ecological impacts of small dams on South African rivers Part 1: Drivers of change – water quantity and quality

Abstract

Impacts of large dams are well-known and quantifiable, while small dams have generally been perceived as benign, both socially and environmentally. The present study quantifies the cumulative impacts of small damson the water quality (physico-chemistry and invertebrate biotic indices) and quantity (discharge) of downstream rivers in 2 South African regions. The information from 2 South African national databases was used for evaluating the cumulative impacts on water quality and quantity. Physico-chemistry and biological data were obtained from the River Health Programme, and discharge data at stream flow gauges was obtained from the Hydrological Information System. Multivariate analyses were conducted to establish broad patterns for cumulative impacts of small dams across the 2 regions – Western Cape (winter rainfall, temperate, south-western coast) and Mpumalanga (summer rainfall, tropical, eastern coast).

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