A new specialised weed harvester is patrolling Rietvlei as part of the area’s environmental management efforts.
On Thursday, Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis and Deputy Mayor Eddie Andrews participated in the vessel’s maiden voyage. It is the second of three new specialised vessels that the City of Cape Town will deliver to recreational vleis.
Also read: The City delivers a specialised weed harvester to the Zandvlei Estuary
The weed harvester is equipped with blades underneath for the cutting of weeds. It can cut, gather and remove weeds to improve water quality and assist recreational users.
![](https://www.capetownetc.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Otter-5-600x375.jpg)
However, some algae is essential to the functioning of the vlei and therefore it is crucial to preserve areas where weed is not harvested, as per a municipal statement.
In Rietvlei, the weed harvester will cut Sago Pondweed and remove algae build-up. Removing excess nutrients will improve the environmental health of the wetland and make it more navigable and safer for watercraft and communities who use the vlei.
Following a public naming process, Rietvlei’s new weed harvester has been dubbed ‘Otter’. The recently delivered Zandvlei weed harvester is named after the ‘Cape Shoveler’, a species of dabbling duck of the genus Spatula.
Otter’s harvesting efforts will focus on the macrophyte Stuckenia pectinata or Sago Pondweed. Although Sago Pondweed typically absorbs excess nutrients (eutrophication), these nutrients are once again released back into vlei once the pondweed dies.
Mitigation efforts include pondweed reduction, and the weed harvester also collects floating filamentous algal mats which accumulate on the water surface during summer.
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‘We have pledged to improve the water quality and management of our City’s precious recreational vleis, and we are pleased to reach another milestone with the delivery of this latest weed harvester at Rietvlei, which closely follows the delivery of Zandvlei’s first harvester late last year,’ says Andrews.
‘These specialised vessels will go a long way to boosting the environmental health at both Rietvlei and Zandvlei. This will also be of major benefit to the thriving local economies around these vleis.
‘Rietvlei is situated in the Table Bay Nature Reserve and is a popular recreational water body. I am confident that the addition of the Otter weed harvester will make a significant impact in improving the water quality. It was wonderful seeing this impressive vessel taking to the vlei yesterday.’
Andrews says the Spatial Planning and Environment Directorate plans to spend around R408 million for the rehabilitation of vleis, including the river wardens job creation programme, water quality improvement programmes at Rietvlei, Zeekoevlei, Milnerton Lagoon and Zandvlei, the lowering of the weir at Zeekoevlei, and the procurement of a third brand new weed harvester for Zandvlei over the next three financial years.
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Picture: City of Cape Town