Service Contract No 2007 / 147-446 Strategic ... - Swaziland

ooooMust address the socio-economic aspects of increasing green caneharvesting, mainly reduced employment if mechanised, and fair standard forpayment if hand-cut;Must include quantified objectives and time-bound targets;Must define responsibilities;Must include a mechanism to report implementation and achievement oftargets and objectives, on a regular basis.Water pollution from agricultural run-off / monitoring of water quality- A strategy must be in place to ensure the five RBAs are fully operational (withtechnical and financial capacity), including clear and time-bound targets (see KeyAspect 1 above on water availability/climate change).- The water quality monitoring system must be reviewed and revised so that:ooooIt is comprehensive. It covers the whole country.It discriminates the different river basins and sub-basins, so those basins andsub-basins with especially poor water quality can be easily identified andmonitored, and sources of pollution easier to identify.It defines sampling points and methodologies in a strategic manner to monitorimpacts from the main industrial, agricultural and domestic potential sourcesof pollution. In the case of sugar cane, sampling points must be placed beforeand after sugar cane farming areas, in order to be able to measure impactsfrom agricultural run-off.Parameters to monitor are representative of likely pollutants. In the case ofthe sugar sector parameters must include: BOD, COD, suspended solids(SS), Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), dissolved oxygen (DO), temperature, pH,conductivity, nitrates (NO 3 - ), nitrites (NO 2 - ), phosphates (PO 4 - ), and fluoride.Basic parameters should be monitored regularly, whilst other parameters (e.g.herbicides, pesticides) can be monitored on a longer-time basis (e.g. annuallyor bi-annually), initially targeting those most commonly used.- Water quality reports should be systematically produced by the RBAs and put in thepublic domain (e.g. SEA website).- In case water quality monitoring identifies issues associated to agricultural run-offfrom sugar cane fields, an adequate response strategy should be generated toidentify the causes and reduce contamination to ensure compliance with water qualityobjectives.- The setting up of the RBAs should take into account the costs associated to themonitoring of water quality according to the above recommendations (e.g. numberof samples, sampling points, costs of sampling and analysis, cost of reporting).Addressing low-priority aspectsRegulation of effluent discharges- Measures should be taken by the DWA and the RBAs to ensure all three sugar millsare in possession of an effluent control permit, following a technical assessment oftheir effluent treatment facilities and practices.RDMU (Strategic Environmental Assessment of the National Adaptation Strategy) - Page 9