1. Eddie Riddell & Robin Petersen With acknowledgment to:
Managing Transboundary Aquifers: the role of large protected area management with a focus on the Limpopo TBA
Midzi
Eddie Riddell & Robin Petersen
With acknowledgment to:
WH du Toit (DWS)
H Verster (DWS)
& team
Water Resources Management,
Conservation Management, Kruger National Park

2. Limpopo Transboundary Aquifer (TBA)
Makuleke Ramsar
Wetlands of International
Importance
Republics of:
Mozambique
South Africa
Zimbabwe

3. The Limpopo River Aquifer Cobbing et al, 2008
Natural unconsolidated alluvial deposits
Wet season runoff recharges alluvial aquifer, SW decline in dry winter (dislocated pools connected by sub-surface flows)
TBA broadest as it enters Mozambique ~700 m. T = 420 m2 /d.
Good groundwater quality - around 200 mS/m
RSA largest agricultural use of water from this aquifer (dereliction of irrigation farms in Zimbabwe) - Mzingwane catchment CGIAR Challenge programs
Hypothetical storage of 150 Mm3
Limpopo TBA
The Limpopo River
Aquifer
Cobbing et al, 2008
Limpopo River is characterised by wet season runoff recharges the alluvial aquifer, SW declines during dry winter reducing to
dislocated pools of standing water connected by sub-surface flows. The larger pools hold water
for extended periods of time - often spanning more than one dry season - confirming their sub-
surface hydraulic continuity. Rock outcrops or shallow bedrock in the river channel act as natural
impounding structures; water collects behind these structures and can be abstracted by surface
Pumps
Assuming conservative values of 20 % for effective porosity, 100 m for
channel width and 10 m for saturated thickness, this yields a hypothetical storage of 150 Mm 3 for
this reach. This volume reduces to 105 Mm 3 at the 70 % exploitation limit, which makes the
resource equivalent to an impoundment with a volume in the top 8 % of surface water
impoundments in South Africa. More significantly, this figure suggests that the water demand of
5 900 ha of irrigated land - shared between the riparian countries – could be met from this
resource. Thus the aquifer is a potentially valuable water source for resource-poor farmers, able
to meet and sustain small scale irrigation demands even during dry periods when surface flow
ceases.

4. Limpopo TBA No Monitoring!! Active Monitoring Active Monitoring
Du Toit & Verster, 2017
DWA, 2014
DWA, 2014
DWA, 2014
No Monitoring!!
Active Monitoring
Active Monitoring
Note Limp, Luv and Shi GW monitoring areas

5. Rain Intensity >150mm/day-1
Limpopo TBA: Luvuvhu/Limpopo
Observations: GW recharge during 1:100 – 1:200 year events
Luvuvhu GMA
Shingwedzi GMA
The LEV: GMA shows a strong declining trend in water levels since 2007 up to A
recharge event in raised the water level a few meters and was maintained at the
higher level till end 2014 when water levels dropped again.
Water levels in the GMA: SHI shows an overall declining trend despite some minor
recharge events that are noticeable on almost all of the graphs. However, a major recharge
event in January 2013 changed the situation and terminated the tendency in many cases. As
expected the declining tendency (this is not referring to the seasonal fluctuations within a
single hydrological year) has again manifested itself in some boreholes after the January
2013 event. The post January 2013 declining tendency is, however, at a much slower rate
compared to pre-January 2013 period (Figure 18).
Rain Intensity >150mm/day-1

6. Limpopo TBA: Shingwedzi – Groundwater Dependent Ecosystem & NFEPA
Artesian
Springs
Colvin et al, 2011
Aquifers integral part of savanna landscapes – alluvial, weathered basalt, granitic lineaments
Discharge patterns = ecological expression GW bioavailable & hydrological heterogeneity
Large store of water in a seasonally dry landscape = perennial lushness and productivity
GDEs are refuge habitats & nutrient hot-spots

7. Limpopo TBA: Population Dependence
Esme-Four Farm
Ian van Brouwershaven
High GW Dependency
DWA, 2014
Safe Nitrate Levels
DWA, 2014
M McHale

8. Floodplain Interaction Resource Dependency in certain sections
Limpopo TBA: Summary
Critical Gaps
Floodplain Interaction
Resource Dependency in certain sections
Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems
Downstream Requirements
Protected Area Expansion Strategy
EGS & SWSA
Resource Dependency better understood in SA context

9. New SWSAs