Written by: simon Allen
2021
South Africa is prone to droughts, and as such, water needs to be managed and conserved. Other than availability, water quality, is possibly the most important criterion. The national Mini Stream Assessment Scoring System (MiniSASS) is a simple, locally developed method of biomonitoring of streams and rivers using the aquatic insect life to judge the quality of the water.
Because various insects and larvae have differing water quality tolerance levels, their presence or absence will indicate that these levels have been reached. The more susceptible an insect taxon is, the higher the score, thus a low score indicates potential problems. Besides regularly sending water samples through for chemical analysis in a laboratory, Pearl Valley Golf Course are also a part of this national project to monitor the creek along Holes 2,3 and 4 every month, thus building up a picture of water quality within the aquatic ecosystem.
