Water levels a worry for ‘Drak’

FOLLOWING the decision to postpone the FastDrak canoe race over the weekend due to the unusually low water levels in the Mzimkulu River, the organisers of the Drak Challenge on January 23-24 have reassured paddlers that they have contingency plans to safeguard the popular race.

The El Nino-driven drought has hit the Southern Drakensberg hard, and despite regular summer thunderstorms, the depleted groundwater level has ensured little of that rainfall has translated into run-off into the major rivers, leaving the Mzimkulu at its lowest level in 30 years.

With the “Drak” attracting close to 1 000 entries each year, the organising committee from the Canyon Kayak Club has stressed that they have a number of options under consideration, should they be needed.

“We continue to get regular storms, and our weather forecasting models point to more of these between now and the end of January,” said race committee chair Barry Cole.

A cloudburst at the weekend left one of the tributaries of the Mzimkulu in spate, and for the first time this summer the river was showing signs of rising.

“Let’s never forget what happened in 2013,” said Cole.

“We were preparing for a low level start, and a storm on the Friday night left the river in flood. The year before we raced a low first day, and a Saturday night storm sent the river up a metre. The reality is that we will only make a final call on the race format just before the race, because storms can, and do, have a major and pretty quick impact on the river level,” he added.

Cole said four times in the race’s 22-year history the start had been moved downstream to the Trout Hatcheries because of low water conditions, and the shortened version had been well received by the paddlers.

Paddlers hoping to enjoy the Drak have started a viral social media campaign insisting that #RainMustFall.

More information can be found at www.drak.co.za