Lake level at its lowest level
Lake Mzingazi, Richards Bay’s fresh water source, is at its lowest level in at least 50 years.
LAKE Mzingazi, Richards Bay’s fresh water source, is at its lowest level in at least 50 years, according to ex-City Engineer, Frik Bosman.
Speaking yesterday during a walk on dry land that once was submerged under almost two metres of water, Bosman said he arrived in the town in 1971 and had never seen the lake this low.
‘Even during the severe drought of the mid-1990s it was not this low.’
Bosman warned that with the surface of the water now just 900mm above sea level, there was the danger of invasion of salt water unless the lake is replenished soon, either through good rainfalls or pumping water from other sources.
For the first time, remnants of the old Royal Air Force stations built for the flying Catalina aircraft in 1944 can clearly be seen on what was once the lake bed.
And residents of Mandlanzini can now ‘walk on water’ to get to Meerensee, taking a route that was also below the waterline in past years.
However, with less water in the lake, chances are that more care will have to be taken as hippos and crocodiles fight for the available habitat.
With a maximum depth of eight metres and a capacity of around 37 million cubic metres, Lake Mzingazi has a surface area of about 1 100ha.
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as i said for years, a full time research project is and was needed to monitor these vital freshwater lakes around richards bay. maybe now something will be done??