The St Helena Bay Water Quality Trust (SHBWQT) was established on 13 July 2000 and is a non-governmental organisation that accepts shared responsibility for maintaining the health, diversity, sustainability and productivity of the coastal environment.
As part of the functions of the trust a comprehensive overall water quality-monitoring programme in St Helena Bay, Velddrif and Laaiplek was implemented. The results of the water analyses are incorporated in the yearly State of the Bay Report.
The three-yearly Open Day of the trust was held on 3 November 2023 at the St Helena Bay Hotel. The chairperson, Colin de Kock, opened the proceedings with an overview of the trust’s activities over the past year emphasising the possibility that it will have to close down due to two of its main contributors, both owned by the Oceana Group, withdrawing from participation in its activities as well as from making financial contributions.
The opening address was followed by a very interesting review of the St Helena Bay geophysical features by Professor Jacques Bezuidenhout.
He gave an overview of the geographical history followed by the current situation in the Bay and the Berg River, which addressed typical features, land cover, upwelling, wind, water temperature, currents, wastewater discharge, sedimentation, and wave action.
The trend in population growth in the Saldanha Bay municipal area was highlighted and thought-provoking facts about natural and anthropogenic (human-caused) factors that will have long-term effects on the Berg River Estuary were discussed.
The yearly State of the Bay Report was presented by Dr Barry Clark from Anchor Environmental Consultants. The State of the Bay Report presentation by Dr Clark addressed activities and discharges affecting the health of the Bay, water quality, sediment quality, benthic macrofauna, and management and monitoring recommendations. The State of the Bay Report is summarised as follows: “Industrial and residential development and the long history of small pelagic fish processing in St Helena Bay over the last five decades have inevitably impacted the environment.
Despite this, recent improvements in some of the indicators of ecosystem health are encouraging, for example, improvements in sediment quality and macrofauna community health in locations where effective pollution mitigation measures have been implemented.
There remains considerable work to be done in maintaining and restoring the health of the Bay, especially regarding the large volumes of fish factory effluent and bilge water that are discharged into the Bay, very little of which is compliant with the existing effluent quality standards. Fish processing factories should seek to further facilitate reducing the size of their impact footprints by improving the quality and quantity of the effluent they discharge.
This can be achieved by improved offloading and processing practices, such as better “housekeeping” and onshore treatment. Reclaiming industry-grade or even potable water from effluent has, and will likely continue to play, an important role in improving water quality in the Bay. Furthermore, offshore disposal via pipelines that convey effluent away from the shallow, sensitive habitats along the shoreline to deeper water where improved dilution and flushing is possible, should be implemented.
Continued monitoring of the overall health status of the Bay is essential to understand whether these objectives are being achieved.” To this end Dr Clark also emphasised the continued existence of the trust is critical, as the data it collects contributes to the overall picture of the health of the bay.
The Open Day, attended by 32 representatives of the public and interested and affected parties, was closed by the chairperson.
The State of the Bay Report is available on the SHBWQT Website, swt.org.za.
V Jan Marx is Operations Manager at SHBWQT.
