Sustainability by implementation of e-flows
This website with its associated reports documents the culmination of a project to determine the e-flows for the Limpopo River Basin using the PROBFLO Approach. E-flows are those volumes of water, present at the appropriate time of year, that need to remain in a river to maintain the ecosystem on which society depends. E-flows thus describe the flow of water that should be protected to keep the river sustainable, not only for the sake of the ecosystem itself, but for the multiple users who depend on the ecosystem for services. Only when these e-flows are protected, then surplus water can safely and sustainably be withdrawn for use.
The e-flow determination process that has been used in this project is based on the state-of-the-art PROBFLO technique (see links in Supporting Literature below). This is a holistic approach that fully embraces all ecological components of the river and goes beyond what is normally considered in e-flow assessments, it considers the ecological and social consequences or provision of ecosystem services to users. This report documents how e-flows were determined, what the e-flows are and how much water is needed during different months of the year to support the river ecosystem at multiple sites distributed across the Limpopo Basin.
- Marico Crocodile
- Olifants
- Upper Limpopo
- Shashe
- Middle Limpopo
- Mwenezi
- Luvuvhu
- Letaba
- Shingwedzi
- Lower Limpopo