Water storage down
ONGOING CONCERN: CAPACITY DROPS FROM 70.3% LAST WEEK TO 70.1%
Weather Service says rain will decline in parts of SA due to climate change.
The department of water and sanitation’s bleak countrywide dam level update has put the importance of saving water regularly in focus again. South Africa is feeling the effects of winter, especially inland, where rainfall is irregular, at best, until summer returns.
National water storage capacity declined again this week by 0.2%, from 70.3% last week to 70.1%. This time last year, water storage capacity was 72%.
Dr Andries Kruger and Sandile Ngwenya from the South African Weather Service attributed model projections that west, southwest and northern parts of the country will experience a decline in rainfall due to climate change.
This was in addition to continued worldwide temperature increases. “Therefore, even if there are projections of no significant change in rainfall, the higher temperatures will contribute to increased water stress,” Kruger and Ngwenya said.
They also warned that water management authorities should take cognisance of trends showing lack of rain.
Department spokesperson Sputnik Ratau attributed part of the decline in storage capacity to the need for people to wash their hands regularly. Although it is essential that everyone practises stringent hygiene to help combat the Covid-19 pandemic, Ratau emphasised that taps should not run while people wash their hands.
“The idea is that every time water is used, there must be that consciousness to save water,” he said.
Even provinces not presently in danger, such as Gauteng, with provincial water storage capacity at 98.2%, must be mindful of saving water, he warned. And although Gauteng’s water capacity was currently healthy, the Integrated Vaal River System continued to decline. This week, storage levels dropped from 67.3% to 66.6%.
Ratau flagged the Eastern Cape as having the most worrying water storage issues and dam levels. Dam levels in the province declined from 55.6% last week to 55% this week, a far cry from 60.4% last year.
The Algoa Water Supply System, made up of five dams which supply water to Nelson Mandela Bay, is at 19.8% – from 44.7% last year. The Amathole Water Supply System, with six dams that supply water to Buffalo City, is currently at 44.6%, compared to 61.2% last year. And Queenstown’s water supply is currently at 45.3%.
The province has also experienced intermittent droughts for the past five years. Other provinces on the department’s radar are regions which do not receive winter rainfall, such as Limpopo, at 72.8%, and North West, with water levels at 70.4%.
Ratau said industries that used a significant amount of water, such as mining, must continue to look at new technology to recycle water. Recycling 50% of the water used in the mining sector would significantly reduce the pressure on the country’s water supply system. Ratau said climate change also threatened water supply.
Current capacity levels are: Free State: 83.4%, down from 83.8% last week. This time last year, water supply was at 88.2%; KwaZulu-Natal: declined from 62.6% to 62.2%; Mpumalanga: 74.4%; Northern Cape: 96.7%, up from 85.6% last week; Western Cape: 37.0%, from 35.3% last week. –