Saving waterways from erosion

Silver Lakes Golf Estate

South Africa

Written by: Craig Corbett

Silver Lakes has been constantly working on the riparian edge of the rivers and dams over the years. Rock packed around the edge of the dams for erosion control and stabilization. This rock has either sluffed off, undermined by the water or is new. This operation included regarding the embankments and or adding additional rock to reinstate the 1.5m rock erosion control (Riprap).

The area is calculated as 0.75m below normal water level and 0.75m above water level. This makes 1.5m wide x 1 liner meter = 1.5m2. Data used from years 2005 and 2020 from comparison.

  • 2005 Ponds area: 162 005m2
  • 2020 Ponds area: 169 470m2

The difference of 7465m2 is directly due to erosion and scouring in areas of concentrated flow or wave energy of the riparian zone around the ponds. Due to the loss of the riparian zone, a decision was taken to increase the riprap: In 2020 699lm of addition riprap was added to the golf course and 672lm was rehabilitated. In 2021 740lm of addition rip rap was added to the golf course and 972lm was rehabilitated. Saving the waterways and managing the flow of water is critical to the sustainability of the golf course and the environment.

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