This downfall, together with that higher up in the adjoining mountains draining, via three rivers, into the Swartvlei system, prompted SANParks official to artificially breach the Swartvlei mouth.
A trench-digger, reportedly belonging to the municipality, was dispatched along the beach from Myoli, the nearest access point, and was seen at work from around 21:00 until midnight on Saturday, May 7. Residents reported that the sand bar was successfully breached at around midnight when the water-level gauge in the vlei was reading 1,6m above sea level. (On previous occasions when artificial breaching took place this was at 1,8m above sea level, although the guideline in the SANParks’ vlei management plan is 2m.)
At first light on Sunday morning (May 8), a narrow channel took the first flow of water from the rising vlei and rapidly became both deeper and wider, but the level continued to rise until late afternoon to reach a peak of close to 1,8m before beginning to drop.
When measured at first light on Monday morning (May 9), the level had dropped to 1,5m and was falling steadily.
