Two Bits – 23 January 2015

Phew, but it’s hot out there! It’s been getting hotter and hotter. I felt absolutely drained after a walk around the golf course on Saturday.
It goes without saying that it’s been getting drier and drier, as well. The brief storm on Friday night only brought a few mills, but the strong wind managed to deposit half the leaves of Chaka’s Rock into my swimming pool.
The drought grows ever more worrisome. Hazelmere dam is now down to 35% capacity and there has been no significant rain in the catchment area, around Hanover/Greytown way. The weather records say that February is that area’s driest month, so relief is not likely.
At the current level of water restrictions, aimed at cutting usage by 20%, there are perhaps 100 days of water left in the dam – around the end of April. If Umgeni Water chooses to really tighten the screws, cutting usage by 50%, then it could extend the life of the present water to the end of July. But that would mean severely restricted water supply, water tankers etc. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.
A reader is curious as to whether Siza Sembcorp’s fines for water wastage are having any effect. Hard to say. I know my circle of friends is very aware of the problem and is trying quite hard to cut water usage. I would imagine that applies to everyone who hasn’t been living on the moon for the past three months, but there’s always the odd idiot to mess things up.
Siza tells me they have issued 14 fines to people caught wasting water, using hosepipes etc. Well, they can add Tolcon to that list, according to the pic on the Letters page.
Anyhow, at R3000 a pop, that’s R42 000 the company has collected. According to spokesperson Khosi Matenjwa it’s going into the company’s coffers, but she says it is an ‘insignificant’ amount compared to the extra costs the drought is imposing on the company.
I say Siza is doing very nicely thank you in normal times, and should consider donating the fine money to charity.
The people I feel for are the farmers. With so little rain for so long, they’re really facing bleak times. The mills closed three months early at the end of last season and with no summer rain, the next season is likely to be disastrous. The smaller growers will have their backs to the wall.
In the coming months we at the Courier will be taking a much closer look at the North Coast’s water problems, particularly in view of the region’s elevated status as a growth point. There has been a lot of (unproven) rumours about hidden reasons for the water shortage, such as sluice gates being left open through carelessness, and we are going to find out what is really going on. We would like our readers to be informed about the government’s long term plans for water supply.
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I dig, you dig, we dig, he digs, she digs, they dig.
It’s not a beautiful poem, but it’s very deep.