LETTER: Water crisis looms

This country is water scarce and water stressed. Water in our rivers and dams is being polluted and mismanaged severely.

The quantity of water Rand Water is  extracting from the Integrated Vaal River system exceeds its licence limits. The department of water & sanitation’s present issued licence allocates 1,347-million cubic litres a year, but Rand Water is extracting 1,680-million cubic litres to supply municipalities.

Officials warn South Africans that from now to 2028, when Phase 2 of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project will be completed, they should expect more stringent water restrictions, worse than most are already going through,   as demand is increasing because of a rapidly increasing population.

Water availability from the Integrated Vaal River System will remain the same until the completion of the Polihali Dam, which is part of the second phase of the Lesotho Highlands scheme. It follows that to avoid a water crisis in the event of serious drought conditions from now to 2028, water use per person in Gauteng will have to be reduced.

This raises the question of whether water conservation measures in the regions supplied by Rand Water are adequately communicated, given that it will be another four years before Phase 2 of the Lesotho Highlands scheme comes on stream.

We should follow the lessons learnt by the Western Cape, where transparent information and regular communication about the severity of the crisis helped bring residents on board to support crisis avoidance and achieve water savings at the height of the drought.

NU Garden
Edenvale

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