Fish Kill below Vaal Dam wall

[Stones]

Hi Guys,

This is my report.

Feel free to comment on this heartbreaking find......

[core fly]

This is sad.Is there another possible reason though.Could it be that with the floods all the "rubbish"in the water settled on the dam floors at the wall.When they open the sluices the crap lying on the bottom is released first and fish in its path are subjected to these poisons.Have they done tests on the soil lying in the dam,nearer the dam wall to see if such toxins exist there.It could give them a point to start at if it is found to be the case.Obviously when released it is diluted the further away it goes and therefore not as many fish kills as at the wall.Just something i have always thought about.

[Gerrit Viljoen]

Hi Stones thanks for that man! Very sad indeed.

[Korrie]

Frightening if you consider all the possibilities.

[chrisvd]

Gees Stones, that is bad! No wonder I got hospitalised the last time I fished the Vaal I am glad to have the Orange close by though

[0266395]

The usual explanation for fish kills is that when the sediment (organic matter from you know where) is disturbed, it uses all the disolved oxygen and the fish die from suffocation. If barbel die, there must be some other reason because barbel survive by breathing at the surface. The possibility of poison comes to mind and the question then is, is the water safe for household use?
Herman

[Shamwari]

Bloody horrifying...when will it end

[Et1]

Hi Guys,

This is my report.

Feel free to comment on this heartbreaking find......

Just as bad as poaching Rhino horn. Once it's gone, it's gone!

[FlyFanatic]

agricultural poison?? what else could it be? there are no big industries upstream from the Vaal Dam wall? at least none that I can think off.. it is mostly farming.

also the Vaal Dam has huge evaporation due to the large surface area vs the relative shallow dam, could it maybe be that because of this fact too much nitrates/minerals/harmfull substances are being sedimented in the muddy dam floor, of which this has built up to such an extent that it is becoming toxic? this ties in with what core fly was saying, I also think this might be the problem?

because of the high demand on water from the big cities, inflow = consumption, this leaves very little "free flow" of the system to keep it from sedimenting, I think the suction of the Rand Water system will not pick up the sediment, they will only skim the top.

lastly and this ties in with article I just read on Beeld's site, could the main culprit not be GRASSCARP? We all know that they have been present in the Vaal Dam for a few years now, spawning at an uncontrollable rate and growing extremely fast. Could it not be that these fish have destroyed the natural plant/organism growth of the dam to such an extent that the entire eco system has been turned upside down...??

[0266395]

The problem will not be solved by jumping to conclusions and speculation on what the reasons for the fish kill are. A proper investigation to determine the true reasons should be the starting point. Only then can possible perpetrators be identified. The problem is that government structures are unlikely to do their job. They will only respond when 10 000 people protest in front of their offices. Or if criminal charges are laid against specific individuals. Is SAVE aware of this?
Herman