My research project tittle is “Analysis of climate change impacts on streamflow in South African river catchments” conducted in collaboration with THE SOUTH AFRICAN WEATHER SERVICE (SAWS), based in Pretoria, South Africa in linkage with ongoing SAWS research supported by the Water Research Commission (WRC) of South Africa.
This project is close to my heart and relevant to my farming experiences due to the following reasons: I started herding my father’s cattle at an early age during this period I observed that the Dzindi and Dzondo rivers had a high flow in a way it wasn’t difficult to cross. One could only cross on bridges and man made bridges. Fast forward 2019 these two rivers are dry even my seven years old daughter can easily cross with ease. We also used to pump irrigation water from Dzindi river without building a weir to lodge water but recently to make it possible to pump irrigation water one will need to build a weir first. These is caused by a tremendous decline in rainfall and high evapotranspiration caused by excessive heat.
The research internship commenced on the 23rd of April 2019 ending on the 26 April 2019 and I was working with the SAWS Research Application Team.
Myself and SAWS Research Application Team
The river catchments identified for these project were Limpopo river catchments, Olifants river catchments, upper and middle Vaal, Thugela river, Usutu to Mhlatuze river and Inkomati river catchment which are situated in the inland regions of South Africa which are the regions highly impacted by climate change.
