Dam levels at critical state as DA calls for watershedding review
As dam levels continue to fall the DA in the eThekwini Council has called on the municipality to re-examine its controversial watershedding scheme.
MARTIN Meyer, DA spokesman on the Human Settlements and Infrastructure Committee of the eThekwini Council has called for stringent measures to cut the wastage of water as the water level of dams which supply the city continue to drop.
Umgeni Water said, in the latest bulletin on its website, that parts of Umgeni Water’s operational area are still in a state of drought, a consequence of the El Nino effect. The affected areas are eThekwini, parts of iLembe District, Ixopo and uMgungundlovu District.
Much of eThekwini and uMgungundlovu, including Pietermaritzburg, receive their water from the Mgeni system. The Mgeni system (Midmar Dam, Spring Grove Dam, Mearns Dams, Albert Falls Dam, Nagle Dam and Inanda Dam) has experienced below average rainfall over the past 30 months, resulting in some of these dams remaining consistently at below 30 per cent and 50 per cent.
It is as a result of inadequate rainfall and concerns over the levels of Midmar and Albert Falls dams that mandatory water restrictions of 15 per cent have been implemented.
The water data report, updated this morning, puts Albert Falls dam at 24.5 per cent, Midmar at 47.95 per cent, Spring Grove at 42.55 per cent and Mearns Dam at 43.43 er cent. Nagle Dam is 69.38 per cent full and Inanda is at 63.41 per cent. Meyer said the DA in eThekwini will call for a discussion on water losses in the next sitting of the Human Settlements and Infrastructure Committee. The huge amount of water losses currently plaguing the city due to the increase in burst pipes, in all parts of the city, has become a major concern.
“There has been a marked increase in the number of burst pipes since eThekwini instituted the so-called “Watershedding”, whereby the water supply is turned off between 9pm and 4am daily. The eThekwini Water and Sanitation Unit has acknowledged that there is a clear link between the shutdowns and the increase in burst pipes,” said Meyer.
He added that while the DA understands the severity of the drought and fully supports measures to decrease the water usage in the city, the current method of cutting off water has had the opposite effect, as thousands of litres of water, if not more, is now being lost. Some wards, in and around eThekwini, now suffer from daily burst pipes, leaving residents without water for hours, if not days at an end.
“eThekwini’s ageing and ill-maintained water infrastructure is simply not able to handle these shutdowns, leading to the current problem, a problem that is worsening the water shortages, ” he said.
“The DA in eThekwini is furthermore alarmed that residents will now be expected to pay a further water levy, basically being punished while the main offender for water wastage, the municipality itself, just passes the buck on to the consumer.
“The goal all political parties should be striving for is to unite behind saving water. The city must revisit this approach, as the current increased water loss is not sustainable. It is time to explore other options that will actually achieve the aim of saving water, including: Instituting severe fines for people wasting water, limiting the water residents are allowed to use for watering gardens, filling pools and washing cars, implement water harvesting at all municipal buildings and take steps to encourage residents to also make use of water harvesting at their homes.
“The DA will continue to engage on this issue in order to protect the already overburdened citizens from paying for the city’s failed plan.”
