Turn off the taps and take stock
THE challenge of South Africa as a water-scarce country cannot simply be cured by the government building more dams or creating unending infrastructure projects to provide this ever-depleting resource.
The continued irresponsible use of water resources in the hope that the Department of Water and Sanitation would build additional dams is an indication that the public has put a distance between themselves and the responsibility to conserve water. Contrary to the belief that the construction of more dams is a solution to water shortages, the only solution lies in all of us acting in the best interests of our future by desisting from shamelessly wasting water.
With the drought that is gripping the country, it is odd that the public has now gone back to being negligent, as shown by the rise in water consumption. Sadly, on the strength of the few drops of rain we have had recently, the department is at the receiving end of blame for not doing enough to build sufficient infrastructure to store the rain water.
Despite the steady rise in our reserves which gives us a sigh of relief, our dams are still hovering at dangerously low levels. In this regard, the situation is still grim to such a point that the dams have not recovered significantly to allow the lifting of the restrictions to water use that have been implemented by municipalities across the country. Accordingly, given that there is once again an increase in water consump- tion, the water restrictions remain the only way to curtail the rampant use of water.
It is imperative to note that the improvement in the Vaal Dam, for instance, is not soley because of the recent rains, but it is thanks to the release of water from the Sterkfontein Dam in the Free State, which is a reserve that the department had to turn to, and the additional water from dams in KwaZulu-Natal and Lesotho. If it were not for these sources, Gauteng would have been plunged into a serious situation too ghastly to contemplate.
Although water knows no boundaries and there is no province that can claim ownership over it, the fact that Gauteng is benefiting from water from other provinces should be a motivation enough for us to preserve every little drop of this resource.
Thus, if the recent pattern of rainfall is anything to go by, we should be able to realise that our problem is much bigger than just the lack of construction of dams.The fact is that because of the below-normal rainfall, our catchment areas are not collecting enough water to supply the dams and we are also contributing negatively by abusing whatever we have.
Furthermore, the truth is that without the public playing a leading role in maintaining and conserving the natural areas which form the catchments, we run the risk of dry taps. Our only hope in ensuring that we have sustained water supply from our taps rests on the public’s willingness to act in terms of a civic duty to save water.
Equally true is the fact that if we were using our water with care, we surely would not have been subjected to restrictions and there would not even be a need to push for building of more dams.
Construction of the dams aside, for the country to be out of this problem, we need consistent rains for the next three years. However, taking into account the persistence of the current drought, this is not going to happen anytime soon.
In her recently held first meeting with MECs, Minister Nomvula Mokonyane and Co-operative Governance MECs in the nine provinces emphasised that there were still serious and dire water challenges in several towns, including Greytown, Vryheid and Ugu in KwaZulu-Natal, Butterworth in the Eastern Cape and Cape Town in Western Cape. These areas are running on very low and close to non-existent water supplies.
As a matter of fact, just last week, the City of Cape Town passed a resolution to implement level 3B of water restrictions from level 3 owing to the water challenges in the province.
To underline the fact that we cannot afford to lower our guard in conserving water, Mokonyane said they were working on creating interventions and considering a number of solutions such as desalination plants for coastal towns similar to those that were commissioned to save Richards Bay.
She said: “Our message as the MinMEC (meeting with MECs) is to encourage citizens to continue using water sparingly and responsibly and to adhere to the restrictions where they may be in place.
“As government, we will continue with the interventions we have been implementing to support communities in need and to respond to leaks and water wastage timeously to minimise losses.”
As the country is still experiencing unprecedented drought, communities should and must do whatever it takes to save water. It is with the help of the public that as a country we can be able to account for the water we use. Non-adherence to the restrictions can only serve to hurt the very public that is supposed to have to use the water.
Sithole is the assistant director at Department of Water and Sanitation (Gauteng Region)