Water Hyacinth in The Berg River Area
Our investigation on the Berg river in the West Coast area near Vredenburg, Hopefield and Veldrift.
Albert Teubes, with Sandi Barrett and Asmaa Mohamed

We visited the West Coast and met a farmer, Mr Albert Teubes on his farm overlooking the Berg river.

Water hyacinth has become a huge problem in this area over the last five years and it is affecting the lives of the farmers in that area.

Mr Teubes's farm overlooks the historic Kersefontein farm that belongs to the Melck family.
At the time of our visit the area had had severe rains and our trip had to be postponed by a week. We were unable to reach the farm Kersefontein, beacause the road was still flooded.
Mr Teubes took us to the area of the river above Kersefontein. The worst infestation of water hyacinth is in this area.

What we saw-

The water hyacinth has formed a dense ugly mat between the trees.

The area was experiencing a flood and yet the water here seemed still and putrid. The river had flooded its banks and was taking an alternative route around the water hyacinth. Some loose pieces had been washed away which was a blessing because when it reached the salt water of the sea at Velddrift it would die. If not it would simply start a new water hyacinth colony lower down and the problem would be increased.

We were concerned by the masses of alien vegetation in this area - blue gum trees are everywhere around and in the river. We asked about the government action plan that is happening and we were told that this is not a catchment area and so it is not a priority. The bluegum trees act as anchors and water breaks for water hyacinth and so besides all the water that they must be using they increase the problem. The trees make clearing the hyacinth a problem as they damage boats that must be used.

Dead trees block the river and so the plants grow rapidly in these areas. The local army is called in to blow the trees up so that the water can flow freely again.

We were horrified by the quality of water and the masses of mosquito's that were around. Mr Teubes reported that the area has a mosquito problem - we know why!

The annual canoe race, The Berg river Marathon can no longer get through this section of river because of the water hyacinth.

The people of the area can also no longer go out on their boats to catch fish in this river. The fish are gone.

During the dry summer months the water hyacinth is very attractive to the cows. It looks green and lush and so the cows try and reach it. The river bank drops away suddenly in this area and so the cows drown. This is a huge financial loss to the farmer.

The water hyacinth and its control in this area.

Chemical methods using the product "Roundup" have been used with limited success. A biological programme using a little beetle has also been tried over the last six years with very limited success. We got the impression that a lot more urgent work needs to be done in this area.

Mechanical Methods.
Sections of the water hyacinth are broken off and floated out to sea, where the salt water kills it and it then collects on the beaches. This causes another set of problems. We feel very strongly about chemical treatment and are not in favour of this quick fix solution. Destroying water quality will affect every single person in that area in the long run.

The Aquarius system used in Kenya should be investigated as we believe it would work here.

We would suggest that hundreds of beetles be released as an urgent priority and that all neighbouring towns concerned with the Berg river area implement a Working against Water Hyacinth and other Alien Trees Programme.

Employ local labour to manually remove the plants.

Water quality concerns everybody, not just the farmers that are being affected - they need government assistance.

Remove all the Blue gum trees from the river bed.

Educate people as to the fact that the water hyacinth problem is as a direct result of the high nutrients found in the water.
Veldrift

Our study then took us to the mouth of the Berg river where the water hyacinth is also present.

We talked to Mr Hennie Tolken who has a little industry called Carinus Visserye on the bank of the river drying fish (Bokkoms)
Problems caused by water hyacinth.

The impact of this plant is that it affects the quality of the water and also that it breaks off and catches in the fishermen's nets. IIt clogs the river so that boats cannot get out easily and it catches in the propellers. The beaches area at the mouth of the Berg river are severely affected by the water hyacinth. IIt washes out to see in huge clumps and then dies from the salt water and sinks.

A lot of the water hyacinth washes up on the beaches and the dead plant matter lies there. We found very old water hyacinth on the beaches - it has strong stems and these take a long time to rot away. We tried to break the dried stems - they do not snap and so it is easy to see why people around the world use this to weave with and to make ropes from it.

The clumps of water hyacinth on the beach would deter tourists visiting these beaches - this will affect the local economy even more. Local fishermen are affected by the plants. We spoke to two of the workers at Carinus Visserye about water hyacinth.

The perception in South Africa is that it is a useless plant. These fishing folk were amazed when we showed them the paper made by the company "River Reed Paper." They were excited by the fact that it could be dried and burnt and that it was being used in other countries as a material for weaving. This plant has also been used as a cheap insulation in buildings in other parts of the world.
We have promised to return with a copy of the book, Use Water Hyacinth by the authors Keith Lindsey and Hans Hirter of ANAMED for them.

In areas of poverty and lack of opportunity water hyacinth and its uses must be investigated. Free resources like this need to be used - the plants could so easily be removed and dried to be used as fuel or they could be chopped up and used as compost in food gardens.

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