BREF report on the Estuary breach

The BREF report on the estuary breach ‘Bot Estuary forum presentation’ received 21 January 2021 is presented below in its entirety. Page 9 of 14 on the ‘Water outflow rate’ together with the graph shows equal water volumes for an equal amount of change in the depth. The conclusions drawn from this are as much as 200- 250% out. There are other apparent errors in the report. The estuary was breached too far to the west, according to the EMP (Estuary Management Plan). The tremendous amount of environmental damage, west of the breach and within the estuary itself gets no mention at all. This has been reported on elsewhere Management of the Bot Estuary and Saga of the Bot Estuary. These include links to other reports from the time of the first artificial breach in 2020.

Or download the report here http://greenheart.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Bot-estuary-forum-presentation_Artificial-Breach2020.pdf.

The BREF report on the estuary breach was also followed by report delivered to BREF in April 2021 for their consideration by Michael Austin. No corrections have been made and the only report back was that the area of the estuary at different depths was taken into account and the matter closed.

The above picture clearly shows the changed dynamics now operating within the Estuary, as predicted by earlier reports available on this site. The previous three breaches show a very different picture. The estuary water, bottom left (siting well above sea level) would normally be flowing more or less directly to the sea, with a wide open mouth. It is now blocked by additional sand, causing a winding short river outlet to the sea with little or no tidal action.