St. Lucia estuary and lake management basics

So  Where is the St. Lucia lake system ?

The St. Lucia estuary and lake systems are in northe east Zululand. KZN South Africa. The primary fresh water infkow how ever comes from the Umfolozi River and its tributaries. So the St. Lucia lake and estuary systems start just South West of Mapelane the stretch all the way north, both inland and along the Elephant coast as far north as the Mkuze swamps, where the Mkuze river and it's tributaries enter the St. Lucia lake system through the Mkhuze Swamps.

The St. Lucia estuary and lake systems form the core base of the iSimangaliso wetland park world heritage site.  iSimangaliso wetland park covers the area from just South  Mapelane, where the Jolly Rubino still lies on the coastal sand banks, until Kozi Baymouth  at  the Mozambique border in the North,  and inland for quite some way, crossing the N2,  (National Road) which connects zulu Land to the rest of South Africa.

The St. Lucia estuary and lake systems are thus in the southeast corner of the Umkhanyakude District municipality of KZN South Africa. map names in South Africa is an issue, as name changes for political purposes is common practice for us here

 The lake system runs parallel with the Indian ocean coastline, and stretches quite far north all the way to the Mkhuze Swamps, then a little more north at the extreme northeastern corner. In the old days, one could thus travel a little over 60 Km from the estuary mouth to the furthermost navigable point of Lake St. Lucia. All five rivers add fresh (sweet) water into the St Lucia lake and estuary systems.

The biggest estuary management problem is the silt contained within the rivers feeding the lake and estuary systems. Managing the sediment inflow is thus a  major part of estuary management. 

Lake St. Lucia and the St. Lucia estuary systems is within the iSimangaliso wetland park world heritage site, and the iSimangaliso wetland park Authority is the legally appointed custodian of the iSimangaliso wetland park world heritage site. This makes the IWPA  or iSimangaliso wetland park Authority the responsible juristic person who is responsible for the St. Lucia lake and estuary ecological and environmental management.

This short video discusses the IWPA estuary  the management tactics and the impacts of these estuarine management tactics within the iSimangaliso wetland park.