Limpopo dam levels have this week dropped to below 50%.
This situation compels the provincial water users to brace themselves for possible water restrictions to assist conservation.
The latest report by the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) states that Limpopo has declined from 50,5% to 49,8%.
“Of particular concern is Tzaneen Dam in the Mopani district of Limpopo where the level has dropped from 7,2% last week to 6,3% this week. There are fears that unless it rains heavily in the next two week the citrus industry might be severely affected,” Sputnik Ratau from DWS said.
More alarmingly is the water situation in Giyani which is a stone’s throw away from Tzaneen.
Its main source of water, Middel-Letaba Dam, is virtually empty at 3,2%. However, the Construction Unit of the department is in the area to continue with the erection of a pipeline that will supply water from Nandoni Dam to Giyani.
The Polokwane Water Supply System dropped to 48.0% from 48,9% last week.
The Luvuvhu Water Supply Systems is currently sitting at 83.8% this week showing a decline compared to last year this period when the reading was at 94.0%.
According to Ratau, the department is encouraging water users in the province to continue using water sparingly to avoid water shedding.
In addition, a Ministerial National Rapid Response Task Team identified Giyani among several hotspots in the country where intervention will be urgently implemented.
Other hotspot areas were identified in Eastern Cape, Northern Cape and North West where the drought has led to extremely dry conditions. These are Butterworth, Lusikisiki, Port Alfred and Alfred Nzo in the Eastern Cape, as well as Aggeneys in the Namakwa District in Northern Cape. In Limpopo the areas include Mogalakwena in Capricorn, Modimolle, Bela-Bela, Thabazimbi and Polokwane.
The DWS report further paints a bleak picture of the water situation in North West and Eastern Cape provinces where the dam levels have dropped to 50% each.
Parts of the Eastern Cape are already experiencing severely dry conditions that have prompted the provincial government to declare them natural disasters.
The Premier of the EC province is considering a request to meet with the farmers who are seeking government intervention on their situation. All this happens as the department is working together with other spheres of government to alleviate the water situation in drought-stricken areas.
Meanwhile, the department has spent millions of rands to refurbish dysfunctional boreholes and to install new ones.
On Monday 21 October, the Minister of Human Settlement, Water and Sanitation, Lindiwe Sisulu, allayed fears of a looming national drought whilstimploring water users to conserve water.
Minister Sisulu appealed to South Africans across the spectrum to do whatever was necessary in their spaces to ensure that water was conserved.
“There will not be a need for water shedding if water consumers adhered to calls to save water”, Sisulu said.
Key to the sustainability of water availability and to avert the imposition of stringent water restrictions is the behavioural change and a change of attitude towards water use.
