Lake St Lucia estuary rehabilitation

Anchor was appointed to undertake a comprehensive research project to select and implement the most feasible option for improving the ecological functioning of the St Lucia estuarine system, which is the largest and most important estuarine system in South Africa. and became the first World Heritage Site in South Africa in 2000. The study involved lidar and bathymetric surveys, hydrological, hydrodynamic and sediment modelling, ecological assessment, social and tourism studies, and surveys of floodplain commercial sugar farming, and entailed the assessment of various engineering/rehabilitation options on all of these aspects.  The study culminated in a cost-benefit analysis of a range of options under possible different future climate and catchment management scenarios, and recommended a course of action that was then undertaken by the client.  The study was written up in a collection of 6 volumes.