Durban - A KwaZulu-Natal North Coast municipality has declared a Level 3 drought - and plans to deal with it by more than doubling a fleet of tankers to ferry water to clinics, schools and residents.
Lembe District Municipality, including Ballito and the Dolphin Coast, KwaDukuza, Maphumulo, Ndwedwe and Mandeni, is hiring 20 tankers in addition to the existing 15 already leased to deliver water throughout its area.
It will also procure about 350 JoJo Tanks, placing them at strategic points to reduce delivery time for the tankers. The estimated cost of the measures, including overtime and communication, is R24.3 million.
The mid-South Coast is also in crisis, with three dams in the Umzinto system running dry, according to Umgeni Water.
Lembe mayor, Sibusiso Mdabe, said he would meet sugar cane and agri-business giant Tongaat Hulett on Tuesday to discuss ways of dealing with the drought.
Mdabe told reporters on Monday that water levels at Hazelmere Dam were now at 49 percent. The only local rivers that were flowing were the uMvoti and uThukela and even those were running low.
The municipality said because of little or no rain in past months, schools dependent on harvested rain water were suddenly part of the municipal water supply customers.
Clinics around the district were usually on private borehole water supply, but were now also being supplied by municipal tankers. Borehole water tables had dropped drastically, the municipality said.
Mdabe said there would be a public awareness campaign to “conscientise” residents on the need to save water.
“Everybody must feel the challenge that we are facing so they can take ownership of it. We will be sending flyers and spreading the message through other communication channels.”
Level 3 drought means water restrictions in the district:
* All customers are requested to reduce normal consumption of essential use and domestic use by 20-50%, and all non-essential use by 80-100%;
* Commercial nurseries and vegetable gardens will be restricted to absolute minimum usage to keep plants alive;
* Watering gardens, lawns, parks and public open spaces is restricted to up to one hour, only on Mondays and Thursdays between 12.01am and 10am.
The use of irrigation systems and sprinklers is prohibited. Only buckets or watering cans may be used. Hoses shall be disconnected.
* Golf course tees and greens - and not fairways - may only be watered on Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays from 12.01am to 5am, and sports fields may only be watered on Tuesday, Thursday, or Saturday from 12.01am to 5am.
* Water served for drinking purposes at restaurants or other public or non-public eating establishments is limited to requests only by customers.
* Industries will be restricted to 75% of their normal daily usage based on their average daily usage for the past 12 months.
The shortage of water has also resulted in protests that have turned violent.
A statement released by the municipality said: “Weather forecasts are showing strong predictions of the El Niño occurring towards the end of the year and this is likely to result in impacts associated with a drought cycle.”
El Niño events, currents warming the ocean surface off the South American coast, mean an increased chance of drier conditions here.
Mdabe said they had predicted the drought might last three to six months.
He said the municipality was still calculating the economic impact on the local economy. “We are working with the iLembe chamber of commerce and farmers associations to do an assessment.”
KwaZulu-Natal Agricultural Union president, Michael Black, said even though there had been rains in the province recently they were not widespread.
In some areas there was just 25mm of rain, which did not have a substantial effect.
Black urged people to conserve water. “We are doing a survey to see how bad the situation is. We will just have to conserve water as best as possible.”
Sembcorp Siza Water, water supplier to the Dolphin Coast, announced a raft of water restrictions on September 24. They included rules on topping up pools, the need to register all swimming pools with Sembcorp, known water leaks to be repaired within 48 hours, and no washing of buildings or hard surfaces.
Umgeni Water said on Tuesday the province was facing drought-like conditions and urged consumers to use water sparingly.
“It’s not good at all,” said Shami Harichunder, the utility’s spokesman. “Our climatologists have told us that if we do not experience rainfall by January 2015, the water supplies we have will run dry. We must save water.”
He said that low rainfall levels coupled with high temperatures and high levels of evaporation had exacerbated the problem.
He said the uMngeni system, which services parts of Ugu and Durban and uMgungundlovu (Pietermaritzburg and surrounding areas), was the only one not in crisis at this point.
“Spring Grove Dam, Mearns Dam, Nagle Dam and Albert Falls (all part of this system) are sitting at water levels of 75 and 89 percent. This is a sufficient amount for Umgeni Water to treat and supply its consumers.”
He said the mid-South Coast was currently facing a crisis with the dams in its Umzinto system (Umzinto Dam, EJ Smith Dam, and Nungwane Dam) running dry.
“They are all sitting at between 11 and 31 percent at the moment. There is not enough water to extract and treat.”
The Ixopo system, which supplies the Ixopo Dam, is also in danger of running out of water.
“The dam is sitting at 44 percent at the moment.”
He confirmed that the areas to the north of Durban in iLembe were at dangerously low levels.
“The Hazelmere Dam - which supplies Verulam, Waterloo, La Mercy and others - is also in crisis at 49 percent. We had to hold a media briefing to alert the people in the area. A year ago the dam levels were at 95 percent.”
The Maphumulo area, which draws its water from the Imvutshane River, is also facing limited supply as the river has also run dry.
Daily News