New dam will be eight times the size of Hazelmere Dam

The North Coast is, at least for the foreseeable future, in good hands as far as bulk water supply is concerned.

With the benefit of raising the Hazelmere Dam wall already realised (even at 80% capacity) and a massive new dam in the pipeline, as far as the Department of Water and Sanitation’s (DWS) mandate is concerned the region should be covered for the next drought.

The iLembe and eThekwini municipalities are among six municipalities set to benefit from a R20-billion new dam in the uMkhomazi River.

Scheduled for completion in 2033, the Umkhomazi Water Project will transfer water from the Umkhomazi River to increase Mgeni Water Supply System’s yield from 394 to 608 million cubic metres (or kilolitres) per annum.

To put the scale of the project into perspective, the new 251 million cubic metres dam at Smithfield will be more than eight times the size of Hazelmere Dam.

The real problem, however, lies with astronomical municipal water losses caused by malfunctioning infrastructure such as leaking or broken pipes.

DWS’s investment in water security is being hamstrung by municipalities’ inability or reluctance to dig holes in the ground and fix infrastructure properly – a strategy that is much cheaper than building new dams.

“Water is a science. There are too many unskilled staff that shouldn’t work in the water sector. Infrastructure has also collapsed due to leadership making decisions to do nothing,” said Water and Sanitation deputy minister David Mahlobo, recently speaking at Siza Water’s 25th anniversary event.

He said the national water loss average owing to leaks was around 40%.

According to the Auditor General’s reports, the iLembe District Municipality (IDM) lost 46% of its bulk water purchases last year, amounting to R105-million in lost revenue that could have been used to repair collapsing infrastructure and alleviate pressure on DWS to keep meeting the growing demand.

Although this was an encouraging improvement after a loss of 48.87%, equating to R111.71-million in 2022, and a staggering 59.75% adding up to R123.47-million in 2021, IDM still has a long way to go.

According to DWS statistics, eThekwini (including Umdloti, La Mercy, Tongaat and Westbrook) is the worst performing municipality in the country with 58% of its purified water supply classified as non-revenue water – compared to 33% a decade ago. These water losses cost the cash-strapped city a staggering R7.6-billion a year.

Compared to Siza Water that has for the last 15 years managed to keep its water losses below 13%, the violation of human rights caused by the failure to curb water losses is plain to see.

According to Article 11(1) of the International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, access to safe drinking water and sanitation are internationally recognised human rights. The United Nations also recognises access to water and sanitation as human rights fundamental to people’s health, dignity and prosperity.

Mahlobo highlighted how failure to provide access to safe water and sanitation could lead to an irate public and eventually conflict, as it has in many parts of Africa where conflicts are being fueled by competition over dwindling water resources.

For example, Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan have for the last 13 years been engaged in an ongoing dispute over the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile River.

The Sahel region has also experienced a raft of conflicts between farmers and herders over access to water and land use.

“We are a water scarce country and we cannot allow water inefficiencies. Our country’s annual average rainfall is 480mm compared to the global average of above 800mm,” Mahlobo said.

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