FITTING FAREWELL:
The Two Oceans Aquarium released Yoshi, its large resident loggerhead turtle, on Saturday approximately 27 nautical miles off Hout Bay after months of preparation and waiting for the ideal weather conditions.
‘The town hopes that the summer rainfall will alleviate the crisis situation’
DESPITE two million litres of water made available to the residents of drought-stricken Beaufort West last week, the region again faces dire shortages with two other existing boreholes now having running dry.
Humanitarian Aid organisation Gift of the Givers last week unveiled the Beaufort West Witperd Aquifer Development Project to add to the dwindling resources of the municipality. Taps opened pumping water from new aquifers into the Gamka Dam pipeline and onwards into the town’s water reservoir.
The University of the Free State conducted free testing of all water samples for the project and Hose Manufacturers Africa contributed two complete borehole systems at no cost.
Beaufort West has been severely affected by the drought, with all surface water drying up. The town now relies on 32 boreholes and a Water Reclamation Plant for its needs.
Municipal Manager Kosie Haarhoff said the drought disaster remains in full effect despite recent projects to alleviate the situation.
“The town lost the supply of the Gamka dam during October 2017 and has since then relied only on borehole water and reclaimed water from the water reclamation plant, commissioned in 2013.
“Aid organisation Gift of the Givers came on board recently and helped to find a new water source to help alleviate the loss of the Gamka Dam,” he said.
But while the Gift of the Givers added a new source of water successfully, two other existing boreholes ran dry.
“Accordingly, the situation at this stage is even worse than before the Gift of the Givers source came in. The town is still in need of water and is there is still a dire water crisis.
“Beaufort West is in a summer rainfall area and the town remains hopeful that the summer rainfall will get the town out of the current water crisis,” Haarhoff added.
A medium-term plan is in place to bring water into the system from a new aquifer.
“Boreholes to this new aquifer have already been drilled but not yet equipped due to budget constraints. The town has approached national government for funding to address this critical project urgently and remains hopeful of a positive outcome,” Haarhoff said.
He urged visitors and travellers passing through the town to take the situation into consideration and assist the local community in their water-saving efforts.
Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning MEC Anton Bredell has said that Provincial Treasury’s recent R95 million budget allocation to the Department of Local Government will assist with drought management.
An amount of R25m will be used to provide additional drought relief, while R55m will go towards water augmentation initiatives, including boreholes, Bredell added.
Areas in the province most affected by the drought include Beaufort West and Kannaland, the City of Cape Town, Bitou and Knysna, as well as the Matzikama region on the West Coast.
The agricultural sector has been acutely affected.