In the absence of a well-funded, properly informed and cohesive strategic plan for South African reservoir limnology, misinformation will remain a problem, old findings will be 'rediscovered', and resort will be made to outdated technologies.

The socioeconomic well-being of South Africa is largely dependent on water stored in reservoir lakes. While technically the term "dam" refers to the wall holding back the "reservoir" of water, this article uses the term dam interchangeably with reservoir.

The South African Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) manages some 580 dams, 320 of which are considered to be major impoundments, storing more than one million cubic metres of water each. They store a combined 32 billion cubic metres of water, equivalent to 65% of South Africa's annual rainfall runoff.

From this, irrigation uses 62%, urban and domestic use equals 27% and mining, industry and power generation absorb a further 8%. Commercial forestry utilises the remaining 3%.

Dams are, in reality, man-made or artificial lakes, necessary to sustain life and development in an arid environment that lacks natural lakes. While natural lakes form robust natural ecosystems, dams may be semi-natural at best.

Both types are prone to pollution and other pressures arising from human development of their catchment areas, with dams being generally more sensitive and less resilient to external stressors. This is because they are purposefully sited to collect water from the greatest catchment area possible.

Ensuring the healthy...