WATCH – Torbanite Dam suffers major fish mortality as water levels drop
Thousands of fish have now died and farmers with dams tried to save as many fish as they could by moving them to other dams.
ERMELO – The Torbanite Dam outside town on the Chrissiesmeer road, which supplies water to the Breyten Water Treatment Works, has reach critically low water levels.
Highvelder received photos and videos from Steve Rautenbach and his son, Neil Rautenbach who lives near the dam showing several fish swimming in the shallow waters.
The Rautenbachs have asked the Msukaligwa Local Municipality on several occasions to pump water from Jericho Dam to Torbanite Dam.
Torbanite dam supplies Chrissiesmeer, Breyten, Warbuton and Lothair with raw water.
“We have warned them several times that the dam is going to run empty, but no water is being pumped into it. They said they do not have the necessary funds to pump water from Nooitgedacht and Jericho to Torbanite,” Neil Rautenbach said.
Rautenbach told the newspaper when the levels of the dam began to drop, the municipality shifted the extraction points to continue to pull water from Torbanite, until it was no longer able to extract water.
“Thousands of fish have now died. My father and some farmers in the area with dams tried to save as many fish as they could by moving them from Torbanite to other dams.”
Rautenbach informed the municipality to remove the dead fish from the dam, as it leaves a stench in the water and air, but received no response from them.
According to Rautenbach the municipal workers damaged the dam wall when shifted the extraction points, which will have to be fixed before the water level rise again.
The Msukaligwa Local Municipality (MLM) had ceased all operations at the Breyten Water Treatment Works on December 11 after not being able to extract any more water from the Torbanite Dam.
On the municipality’s Facebook page they announced that the MLM is engaging with various stakeholders to assist it with water tankers to provide for all the affected areas.
Two water tankers are already allocated to assist with water in Breyten and its surrounds and two are allocated for the Chrissiesmeer area.
The municipality urged residents to store water and use it sparingly.
Read the complete article in the Highvelder newspaper.
