Cape Town: Zandvlei estuarine management plan on display

The City of Cape Town is inviting residents and interested and affected parties to comment on the draft management plan for the Zandvlei Estuary in Muizenberg. The commenting period closes on 30 November 2023.

The Zandvlei Estuary – the point where Zandvlei meets the False Bay ocean in Muizenberg – has a catchment area of 92km². The estuary is highly modified, a temporarily open-closed system, and impacted by the surrounding urban suburbs of Constantia, Plumstead, Tokai, Retreat and Muizenberg that drain into the catchment.

The City’s Environmental Management Department is responsible for the management of the estuary and must develop an Estuarine Management Plan (EMP) that assesses its current state and determines management and monitoring actions.

Zandvlei

• Is a 2,5km long, shallow estuarine system, and is 0,5km wide at its widest point,
• Receives flows from the Keysers, Sand and Westlake rivers,
• Has a long history of alteration and management since the establishment of the Simon’s Town railway line across the estuary in the 19^th century, and further alterations in the early 1970s,
• Is a popular recreational waterbody with water-based activities including canoeing, yachting, paddle-boarding, angling etc.,
• Is a critical nursery area for marine fish species, and provides a habitat for waterbirds such as waterfowl and waders,
• Receives significant quantities of polluted and poor quality runoff from the urban catchment.

“The Zandvlei estuary is the last truly functional estuary on the False Bay coast, and it is vital from an ecological, social and economic perspective that we conserve this asset. It is possible with good management, targeted remediation and rehabilitation to reduce the nutrient build-up in the vlei,” said the City’s Deputy Mayor and Mayoral Committee Member for Spatial Planning and Environment, Alderman Eddie Andrews.

“By improving the mouth management, we can enhance the estuary’s connection with the ocean, and rehabilitate the terrestrial and wetland areas that border the vlei.”

The revised estuary management plan provides short-, medium-, and long-term management priorities and actions to maintain and enhance the estuarine function; protect the critical biodiversity and existing urban infrastructure bordering the vlei; and enable recreational and educational uses for current and future generations.