4. CONTRIBUTIONS AND APPLICATIONS OF THE DATA
The catchments have been instrumental in the development of South
Africa’s hydrological and ecological research, and have provided the
evidence base for much of the country’s water, forestry and
environmental policy. In particular, the data from the catchments has
contributed to the understanding of the impacts of afforestation on
water yield (e.g. Nänni, 1970a, b; Bosch 1979; van der Zel, 1995, Scott
& Smith, 1997) hydrological model development (Schulze, 1976; Schulze,
1995) and understanding the impacts of fire on streamflow (Nänni, 1960;
Bosch et al ., 1984; Van Wyk, 1986). The historical data collected
for the site was consistent and of high quality until 1985 when funding
for the monitoring became constrained. Due to the data gap between 1991
and 2012 and the short record since monitoring resumed, no trend
analysis has been undertaken. However, the monthly rainfall and
streamflow records expressed as an anomaly from the monthly means of the
historical period (1951 – 1980) indicate that the contemporary period
has been drier than the historical records (Figure 2). The 2018/2019
summer was one of the driest summers on record for Mike’s Pass
meteorological station.