Amathole District Municipality Wetland Case Study

Lack of capacity, support and funding, has meant that municipal officials within Amathole District Municipality (AMD) are curtailed in their ability to make effective decisions around wetland planning and rehabilitation in order to secure water for the district. This has resulted in wetlands in the upper catchment historically being degraded through over grazing and informal agriculture resulting in increased erosion and wetland degradation and dams downstream, such as the Xilinxa Dam, being filled with sediment. This results in decreased water availability for communities downstream reliant on the dam for water security and increases the risk of vulnerable communities to the impacts of drought.