Hope for saving the lake fades
It seems the private partnership between the Boksburg Lake Forum and the metro has come to an end.
This is according to Derek Fox, of the Boksburg Lake Forum.
He says that, for over 10 years, the forum has been meeting regularly to try to find solutions to the Boksburg Lake issues, but the lack of assistance from the metro has forced the members of the private group to call it quits.
“Despite having several high ranking Ekurhuleni officials in attendance at some of the monthly meetings, the total lack of support, apathy and general lack of concern shown by the officials has led to the forum suspending its activities, more than likely indefinitely,” Fox says.
The decision was taken at the monthly meeting, last week.
“Over the last decade we have involved school children from the various high schools in the lake days and provided great support concerning cleaning up the lake,” adds Fox.
“We have also managed scientists and industrial companies as they have analysed, tested and led debates as to the best solution for the lake.
“The forum was responsible for motivating Ekurhuleni budgeting and buying a dredger to dredge the lake; now, the dredger whiles away its time in Benoni, cleaning up the hyacinth plants.”
The chairman of the forum, Peter Jordan, says walking around the lake reminded him of an eastern European war zone that he saw on television, with the piles of rubble from derelict buildings, the broken pipes, fences, the litter and general condition of the lake.
“It is clear that Ekurhuleni is faced with only one choice – to have or not to have,” he adds.
“Should they decide they want the lake, they need to provide the budget to fix it; if they don’t want it, or dn’t have the budget to maintain it, they should then drain it and make the land available to upgrade the city and the CBD.
“The costs to repair and upgrade this facility are substantial.
“If they spend the money upgrading it, they have to provide the budget to maintain it, failing which they are wasting money upgrading and fixing it.
“Without even thinking through the consequences of their actions, Ekurhuleni willed a budget thorough and spent R4-m upgrading the boathouse on the western side of the lake; this even though the lake was a toxic soup mix.
“The water quality is the key issue, along with the silt build-up, as a result of years of lack of proper maintenance and control. “A lot of waste has also been illegally dumped into the drainage canals which run into the lake.
“We are aware of the fact that a silt trap has been budgeted for and a contractor appointed.
“While building a silt trap will assist in stopping silt flow, it will do nothing for the silt in the lake at present, which, in some areas, is as deep as 2m and has now turned toxic.
“The stench and fumes have even overwhelmed contractors who were keeping the shoreline clean of rubble blown into the lake; they have had to cease their activity.”
Fox says several ideas were discussed to get the lake back to its original state.
“One was the pumping of silt out of the lake, but the issue was the cost, along with the road damage from the trucks transporting the sludge, and also the environmental impact on the area where the sludge and silt will be dumped, given the toxicity levels.
“Another suggestion was a product called Eco Tabs, for R3,5m.”
The Advertiser last year reported on Eco Tabs, which was a suggestion by Rod Genricks, director of Turncard Trading, who specialises in the remediation of lakes and ponds.
At the time, Eco Tabs was seen as a solution, as it could potentially treat the toxic water properly before the dredging machine can be deployed to remove the sludge.
It was also proposed that, once the water was treated, the metro could then start removing the excessive sand, possibly relocating it to form an island in the middle of the dam.
According to Genricks, to treat the lake demands a two-fold approach – one is treating the water, and the other is to remove the silt and sand.
The forum, at the time, supported this plan.
“By using Eco Tabs you would be able to see the bottom of the lake, so that you could bring the dredger back and dredge the silt, dumping it in the lake to form another island for the birds,” he explains.
“This then negates the need to remove or dump anything outside of the lake area.”
Fox says the final suggestion was to drain the lake, treat it and reconfigure it, making it smaller, narrower and more manageable.
The lake has been drained twice before in its life time; the last time was in the late ’50s or early ’60s.
During July, last year, the then metro spokesperson, Sam Modiba, reported that the metro had put the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process on hold, due to the sludge in the lake.
According to Modiba, at the time, it is required that the metro dispose of the sludge before the EIA process can be completed, and disposal of it requires a waste licence.
The Advertiser has approached the metro for comment on what further developments have taken place at the lake, and the metro’s supposed master plan.
We are awaiting a reply.
