The Catchment Research Group was formed in 2000 as a way to formalise the research work of several of the department's staff and students into a group orientation. The Group enjoys the support of several funders through contractual relationships in which research funding is paid over to the Group so that its members can work on particular areas of concern in river and dam catchment areas.
Some of the main participant funders are the Water Research Commission and the National Research Foundation.
Funds from sources such are these are used to employ researchers, who may or may not be pursuing a Doctoral or Masters level degree concurrently with researching towards an end of project contract report.
This page presents some of the current work being done and some of the researchers and students pensketches of their work. Other projects in the Department are listed on the Projects, Papers and Prowess page
KAT RIVER VALLEY
The Kat River Valley is situated between Seymore and Fort Beaufort in the Eastern Cape Province (1:50000 sheet reference 3226). There are several projects at Doctoral and Masters level being undertaken in the area ranging from participative management through community members of catchment control and water sharing to management of catchments through the use of GIS tools by community catchment managers.
Some Past Projects
Alistair McMaster
Masters Degree candidate
is exploring the development and application of Participatory Geographical Information Systems in catchment management. This involves a case study in the Kat River Valley, Eastern Cape, in which particular attention is paid to the potential for using GIS in building awareness, communication and capacity among stakeholders for more effective catchment management.
Monde Duma
PhD candidate
Land degradation in the Kat River Valley
Land degradation is an acute problem in areas which were under the former Ciskei homeland. This project looks at two study areas within the Kat River catchment area which where part of the former Ciskei.
These two study areas are: Cimezile which is a communal village falling under the Healdtown district of Fort Beaufort in the Eastern Cape, and, Fairbairn where the land is privately owned by three families in the Mpofu district.
The project will attempt to fulfil two aims:
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To investigate the level and the process of land degradation in the two study areas
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To investigate the existence and effectiveness of land management strategies and land rehabilitation strategies in combating land degradation and the potential for rehabilitation.
The research seeks to understand how land degradation is influenced by physical and anthropogenic factors and how in turn it influences the choices made by rural people for farming. This will be investigated through the assessment of the links between the extent of the degradation process in the study area, siltation and flooding. To be able to provide solutions to the problem, the operation of the degradation process needs to be understood, together with the factors that shape or enhance it.
An understanding of the land degradation process is crucial if the rehabilitation of these badly eroded areas is anticipated. The research should be able to come up with some recommendations as far as rehabilitation and land or range management is concerned.