Effects of the water crisis on the environment

The City of Johannesburg implemented level two water restrictions due to the ongoing drought. The water shortage raises a question about what effects it has on our environment and wildlife.

The same way that humans require water for survival in our daily lives, the environment and wildlife cannot survive without it. According to the South African Weather Service temperatures are set to reach highs of 38 degrees in selected parts of the country.

Coleen Vogel, a Wits Professor in the Global Changes Sustainability and Research Institute said that the current drought in South Africa has multiple effects in an industry such as agriculture.

“The duration of the drought has to be monitored in order to establish what precautionary measures will have to be implemented in the type of crops that are harvested and the methods used,” Vogel said.

The level two water restriction requires residents, business owners and consumers not to use water to irrigate their gardens between 6am and 6pm, not to fill their swimming pools and not to use the hosepipes to wash their cars or paved areas.

Vogel said that she believes water restrictions were implemented too late. “Saving water should be part of our daily lives so that residents know how to apply themselves during a drought and to value the use of water,” she said.

The Kloofendal Nature Reserve is habitat to a number of ingenious plants, various insects and animals. During the water shortage and heatwave, Friends of Kloodendal Nature Reserve guide Karin Spottiswoode said that they have taken precautionary measures to preserve the well being of the environment and and wildlife on the reserve.

“There is water for animals in the dam and in the Wetland where there are some springs where animals get water from. Our indigenous plants have learned to cope with drought and do not need watering. In fact watering them too much can actually kill them,” she said.

Spottiswoode also said that they are on alert for water leaks and sewage leaks in the reserve in order to save water during water the shortage.

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