Sunshine Coast ‘turns off’ the taps

WATER restrictions have been imposed on the Sunshine Coast despite supply dams in the area being more than half full.

With thousands of holidaymakers beginning their trek to Port Alfred and other seaside resort towns this week, the Ndlambe Municipality announced water restrictions to prevent supplies running out during peak season.

Local tourism head Sandy Birch yesterday said this year’s holiday season was expected to be much busier than last year and the ban was a precautionary measure.

She said almost all of the 95 establishments on tourism’s books were full and that they were now only managing to find beds “here and there”.

“It really is much higher than last year; there really are no gaps, everything is full.”

According to Birch, the 2 416 beds she had in Port Alfred excluded holiday home rentals which pulled many more tourists to the area.

Other small coastal towns along the Sunshine Coast have also been slapped with the water restrictions purely as a “precautionary measure”, according to Ndlambe Municipality spokesman Khulukile Mbolekwa.

He said although some water sources were between 75% to 95%, the local authority did not want potential water issues to spoil the festive season for holidaymakers.

He said the water restrictions could remain in place in the new year if much-needed rain did not fall soon.

Bans have been slapped on a wide range of activities, including the use of hose pipes to water gardens, fill swimming pools and wash cars.

Automatic urinal flushing systems in hotels and restaurants have also been hit with the restrictions and any form of tap irrigation.

Popular holiday destinations like Kenton-on-Sea, Bushman's River, Kleinemonde, Cannon Rocks, Boknes and the farming towns of Bathurst and Alexandria are included in the water restrictions.

“We want to prevent any water supply problems and even have teams ready to fix underground pipes if they break,” Mbolekwa said. —