Vaal dam may be full, but that doesn’t mean the end of water shortages

South Africa is moving into a period of altered rainfall events, which is currently seeing plenty of rain, but this doesn’t necessarily mean this will persist.

The recent heavy downpours which were experienced in various parts of the country may mean our dams are currently full, but this may unfortunately not make any difference when it comes to addressing the water challenges faced by several residents.

Some of the country’s summer rainfall areas which have been receiving above-normal rainfall since late last year, leading to flooding, are in provinces such as Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal (KZN).

In recent weeks, several weather systems ranging from a cut-of-low and a tropical low-pressure systems brought heavy rainfall, especially in the north-eastern parts of the country.

ALSO READ: Heavy rains not stopping any time soon

Residents in particularly the southern parts of Gauteng were forced to vacate their homes, some of which were submerged and flooded following the opening of 12 sluice gates at the overflowing Vaal dam.

ALSO READ: ‘Opening of sluice gates damaged our properties’ – Vaal residents furious they weren’t warned

Questions have been asked about what this rainfall mean for the country’s water security.

Speaking to The Citizen, water expert Prof. Anthony Turton said what the country is starting to see is that the intensity of each rainfall event is way bigger than it used to be.

“Therefore, it translates into flooding and it therefore doesn’t necessarily mean we are getting more rainfall per annum, but it just means that the rain we’re getting is falling in very intense episodes and that is causing the kind of problem that we have been seeing in KwaZulu Natal (KZN) in 2022 and also recently in the Vaal River area.

“This does not have anything to do with water security in the cities because water security in all the cities and metros is dependent not only on water in dams but the capacity to get the water out of the dams into water treatment plants, into bulk storage facilities and into the reticulation system into the cities,” said Turton said.

Infrastructure failures in Johannesburg and Tshwane

“Even if the Vaal dam is 100% full, you are still going to continue getting significant water shortages. In fact, growing water crises in the entire area of Rand Water supply because of the absence of long-term planning and most notably because of the unregulated inward migration of people that has simply just overloaded the water supply and waste water treatment systems,” said Turton.

ALSO READ: Communities warned to take precautions after dam levels rise in North West

Eastern Cape water crisis likely to cause collapse in local economy

Turton is of the opinion that residents in the Eastern Cape are facing a serious crisis because in 2002, the National Water Resource Strategy was quite clear that 98% of all the water available in the country was allocated to a higher assurance of supply to some economic activity.

“It was also clear that all of the coastal cities were going to run into significant water deficits by 2025 and in the case of the winter rainfall areas which is Eastern and Western Cape, the problem there is that you simply don’t have enough water left in the rivers and unless you start thinking carefully about developing other alternative supplies of water, the economic prospects of both provinces are very dire.

“I personally cannot see a future for any of the coastal cities in South Africa, from Cape Town to Qeberha, Durban and even Richards Bay without utility scaled desalination plants and unless we invest in large scale sea water desalination, I do not see a bright economic future for the Eastern Cape and the Western Cape… in fact would even go so far as to say we have a very strong probability in the foreseeable future of the local economy collapsing in the Eastern Cape particularly around vehicle industry in a decade from now,” Turton added.

Meanwhile, the latest rainfall prognosis for the winter rainfall areas, according to the South African Weather Service (SAWS), points to below normal rainfall.

ALSO READ: LISTEN: More heavy rain and flooding expected before autumn arrives

Local municipalities’ role in water crisis

Another expert, Dr. Lester Goldman, says while weather patterns will always affect local water security, of more concern is the treatment of raw water, which is done locally and mainly by municipalities, stressing that poor municipal performance is a greater concern.

“Local municipalities are in crisis and the recent Green Drop reports indicates the relatively poor performance.

“Municipalities must improve revenue collection and use this to maintain infrastructure as well as reducing leaks,” said Goldman.

According to Goldman, addressing issues of infrastructure, planning and skills as acknowledged are vitally important and must be prioritized.

“There is not much more we can add to the current discourse and plans and projects have been announced to address challenges like infrastructure and wastage, among others.

“We would also like to see the sector and communities participate in and monitor the implementation and impact of these plans,” Goldman said.

Goldman added: “I believe it is a collective responsibility and we would like to see authorities, municipalities, companies and citizens to all assist in being more water wise.

“While infrastructure upgrades demand money, our lifestyle changes are free and do have an impact and as citizens, we have to do our part too,” Goldman added.