Napping while dams run dry

As water shortages afflicted yet another part of Ndlambe two weeks ago, the municipality again seemed to react only after the fact.

Bathurst residents said their Day Zero came without warning, and without any announcement of contingency measures.

A week after the taps ran dry, the municipality apparently put out a notice on emergency interventions, but this statement did not reach Talk of the Town until Monday – after we asked questions.

It starts off by saying Ndlambe has been heavily affected by drought since 2018, and all water supply source levels are low, while others are empty.

“Bathurst area is getting its water from Golden Ridge Dam which has reached ‘day zero’ currently due to drought,” stated the announcement dated January 5.

“It must be noted that Golden Ridge is a small dam hence it cannot continue to supply water during extreme drought conditions,” the notice continued.

If you accept that we have been in a drought, this is stating the obvious. The municipality knows better than anyone what our water sources are, and should be keeping constant watch on dwindling supplies while making contingency plans to supply residents with water – a basic human right.

But, as happened with the Sarel Hayward Dam that supplies Port Alfred, the municipality seemed to be caught unawares when Golden Ridge ran dry.

In fact, the municipality’s estimate on the level of Sarel Hayward in July last year appears to have been improbable, as shown in photographs published by the Port Alfred Residents and Ratepayers Association, which compared then current levels with the level it was said to be earlier in 2020, when it was just 6% full.

And it cannot all be blamed on drought. Official neglect and delays in fixing broken pumps meant no water was being pumped into the dam at the most opportune times.

Someone has not been doing their job. This is not a small error, it affects people’s lives. As eventually happened in Port Alfred, the municipality has at least placed communal water tanks in certain parts of Bathurst for residents to be able to collect water. Hardly an ideal situation, but it’s something.

Unfortunately, even though the municipality says these tanks are filled daily, one resident told us several are often empty, one was broken and the water in another was stinking.

The municipality has connected boreholes to the Bathurst system and is pumping water through the Mansfield line to the water treatment works. Some residents may already be getting this water.

Obviously longer term solutions are also required.