Domestic water restrictions imposed due to low water levels
Despite rainfall of between 70 millimetres and 100 millimetres in certain areas of the Onderberg over the weekend, water restrictions are still firmly in place for all users due to extremely low river and dam levels.
MALALANE – As of December 10, Kwena Dam was at 39,4 per cent capacity, despite the great rainfall last weekend.
The dam’s level dropped more than a per cent since last week and is much lower than last year’s level of 55,5 per cent.
Due to this, the needs of water users lower down the Crocodile River, environmental flow requirements, as well as the obligation to keep the river flowing into Mozambique are not being met.
READ: Low water levels in Croc River results in restrictions for farmers
The Inkomati-Usuthu Catchment Management Agency (IUCMA) is attempting to rectify and manage this by releasing seven cubic metres per second of water from the Kwena Dam and have restricted the irrigation sector to less than half of their lawful water use allocation.
Several other restrictions also apply to farmers and other irrigation abstraction users:
• Unlawful users are not permitted to abstract or store any water. If they are found guilty of doing so, legal processes may be followed for their permanent removal.
• No water users are allowed to completely stop the flow of water in streams and rivers due to their abstraction activities.
• All persons with lawful access to dam storage must be allowed equitable use of the water by the dam owners. A reserve for domestic requirements, stock water and ecology may be kept and if the dam level drops too low, any other water uses must be stopped until it recovers.
The restrictions will remain in place until further notice. Farmers may be barred from using any water for irrigation if the Kwena Dam’s volume drops below 10 per cent.
On December 1, municipalities in the catchment were also notified to reduce raw water use abstraction by at least 10 per cent with immediate effect. They were advised to issue notices to residents to stop the irrigation of gardens and to stop non-essential outdoor watering of municipal open grounds and gardens.
READ: Easy ways to save water in and around your home
Like with irrigation restrictions, further restrictions may be enforced if water levels continue dropping or be reviewed once sufficient rainfall has stabilised river levels.
