Gauteng may be declared a water disaster area in a matter of two weeks if no drastic measures are put into effect as a matter of urgency.
According to the Kempton EXPRESS, in an attempt to prevent this, a Joint Operational Centre (JOC) is being established to plan around and improve the state of readiness in the wake of the steady decrease of water levels in the province.
As of Monday night, water levels in the Vaal River system were standing at 27 per cent.
The Gauteng Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, together with the Department of Water and Sanitation and Rand Water, is establishing a JOC, which will also be responsible for, among others, monitoring water levels, monitoring water restrictions and any form of disaster management associated with the water shortage in the province.
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MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Paul Mashatile, said the sweltering heat and the lack of sufficient rainfall across the province pose an imminent danger of even worse water scarcity. He called for drastic saving measures by every water user.
“If we are to secure enough water for each citizen amidst this very real water crisis, we need to pull together and do every bit we can to save and preserve our water resources in our province,” said MEC Mashatile.
Two months ago, the Department of Water and Sanitation gazetted the implementation of water restrictions for the Integrated Vaal River System, which largely affects water users in Gauteng.
The restrictions included a 15% reduction of consumption by domestic users and 20% reduction for irrigation users. The restrictions were intended to reduce water use and manage demand across the Rand Water supply area.
The Vaal River System is currently at an average dam level of 27 per cent capacity, which is the total average for the 14 dams that supply the system. The Vaal Dam in particular is losing water levels at an increasing rate of 1% every week.
Mashatile said a combination of weather patterns, insufficient rainfall and not nearly enough responsible water usage by water users across the province are all indications that the system may reach a level of 25% in the next two weeks, should water consumption not be reduced.
“This will trigger the next level of interventions, which may mean that we will have to increase the percentage of water restrictions across the board,” said Mashatile.
“To avoid this dire situation, water users are urged to be responsible and this includes changing their attitudes and behaviour and reporting non-compliant users, while municipalities need to be more responsive in repairing and maintaining the water infrastructure.”
Harvesting rainwater, taking shorter showers instead of baths, fixing leaking taps, reducing the frequency of car washes and avoiding garden irrigation are some of the things that citizens can do to save water.
