The Department of Environmental Affairs on Thursday handed over a three-year R40 million agreement to the Walter Sisulu University for a water research programme.

University spokesperson, Yonela Tukwayo, said in a statement that the programme was aimed at curbing water pollution.

“Walter Sisulu University in partnership with the Department of Environmental Affairs, will champion water pollution research through a partnership aimed at collecting and analysing water quality, sediment and biota samples along the country’s coastline,” said Tukwayo.

The agreement is expected to culminate in the establishment of a laboratory within the university that will collect and analyse water quality samples.

The laboratory will be charged with providing baseline water quality information that will support long term assessment of accumulative impacts associated with ocean economy.

In addition, it will support recreational coastal water quality monitoring at local government municipalities and building capacity in the field of marine water quality.

“The National Coastal Management Programme developed under the Integrated Coastal Management Act calls for the development of dedicated, co-ordinated and integrated coastal monitoring and reporting systems to measure progress in coastal management and reporting on variability and trends in biophysical, social and economic characteristics and processes in the coastal zone,” said Department of Environmental Affairs Deputy Director-General, Dr Monde Mayekiso.

Mayekiso added that the monitoring of water quality in marine and coastal water on South African coastlines was currently fragmented, uncoordinated and non-uniform.

He added that contemporary monitoring initiatives did not use standardised analytical methodologies and protocols, leading to a number of challenges.

“In addition, details of the analytical methods used in many programmes aren’t readily made available. It’s thus impossible to get a clear picture of water quality status of South African coastal and marine environment at any given time, or discern any possible trends,” said Mayekiso.

The laboratory was expected to produce reliable data and information on the quality of the receiving coastal waters to support environmental management.

It is scheduled to be operational shortly after the formal agreement has been signed, with the first water quality samples analysed for the Eastern Cape.