50 Years of Umko 1966 - 2016 1966 - 2016 | Page 101

C HA P T E R

N I N E

Keep the Umko Running Free
“We have got to fight for the preservation of the Umkomaas River, the last truly great
river in Natal that still flows freely from the mountains to the sea”.
- Dr Ian Player

Our duty to save the river The downside of dams
for our kids and grandkids Compare paddling 20km from No.1 to No.8 and 20km across a dam. No

A report on damming the
Umko many years ago was of
the opinion that the river “will
almost certainly be dammed”.
We - anyone who loves nature,
loves this valley and this river,
and cares for our environment
and our future - should not
let this happen. For very
sound reasons. Please don’t be
misled: There are very good
reasons NOT to dam rivers1.
We now believe a dam has
quietly been started above
Bald Ibis Falls near Deepdale.
Ian Player, at a gathering of “Dusi greats”
That does not mean the fight to
convened by Rob Stewart in Durban in
save our rivers ends. We need
December 1988
to question how this dam was
started (if indeed it has) and
challenge its legitimacy. As paddlers and river-lovers we need to make sure
all alternatives are used to prevent it ever being built.
Ongoing challenges face the Umko and our enjoyment of the river and
the valley. These include attracting new paddlers to wild water canoeing.
Umko stalwart Meyer Steyn remarks: “An observation on Umko: Every year
the average age of the paddlers is one year older“. The same people are
loyally paddling every year and loving it. How do we attract new paddlers
and children of present paddlers to the race? Luckily KCC say they are
attracting new blood. They have tried many innovations and extra events
on the marathon weekend and have looked at reception in the valley which
at present precludes live streaming.
The use of the Hella Hella overnight has helped hugely, as it is o wned by
the local clan and KCC’s use of the venue helps with its viability and thus
gets rural local people to have a real stake in the race. Glen Haw has done
this very successfully with mountain biking.

101

comparison as far as us river paddlers go, but we would readily admit that’s
a biased view. So we have to look deeper into the pros and cons of damming
rivers.
And the cons are far greater than the pros. There are often better, cheaper,
longer-term and less destructive alternatives to building a dam to meet
water needs, or to reduce the impacts from floods. These solutions - from
small-scale, decentralized water supply, to wetland restoration, to largescale efficiency and conservation options - are real solutions, but they have
frequently been ignored or dismissed out of hand by short-term thinking
when a large dam project is on the table.
The problem is they are slow solutions, not spectacular. There’s no
ribbon cutting for the cameras and no quick profit now. But they are real
long-term solutions we need to fight for, as there are plenty who will fight
for the sad alternative. Especially when developers whose sole business
model is ‘build dams’ are involved. They are not being allowed (for good
reasons) to build dams in developed countries (in fact they are now actively
‘de-commissioning’ dams there2) so they look to poorer countries and to
amenable politicians and investors to continue doing what they do.
Right now the biggest dam in the world by volume, Kariba, is in danger
of collapse. A collapse would cause a catastrophe which could undo all the
supposed good of building the dam in the first place.
To those who say dams are inevitable we say think of the implications:
The Kruger Park must inevitably be mined? It need not be so. I give you
one recent development that only very recently people were confidently
saying was impossible: Running a household on solar power and batteries.
Of course, very soon all who denied it will be denying they ever doubted
it, but the truth is things change. Thanks to cellphones and electric cars,
battery efficiency has advanced enormously, and thanks to huge increases
in solar panel efficiency this is suddenly becoming very likely in the much
nearer future than nay-sayers will admit.
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the
world. Indeed, some believe it is the only thing that ever has. History has so many
instances where experts know too much and dismiss (or don’t even notice)
what determined dreamers can do.

UMKO 50 Years