Mpumalanga water levels critically low

Just days after KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo were declared disaster areas, Mpumalanga finds itself facing one of the biggest droughts in decades.

This is a result of inadequate rainfall, which has led to rivers drying up and dam levels falling to crisis levels, Mpumalanga Newsreported.

In order to prevent the disaster and unnecessary water wastage, George Mthethwa, provincial spokesperson for the department cooperative governance and traditional affairs has asked households and businesses to reduce their water consumption by at least 70 per cent.

“The fact is we are slowly running out of water and if we do not preserve the little we have now, we will soon find ourselves in the same crisis as KZN,” Mthethwa said,

He added the department has already begun creating awareness and fixing leaking pipes to save water.

“Between 50 and 70 per cent of our freshwater is being wasted through burst pipes, malfunctioning pumps, broken taps and reckless water use,” he added

The water- management institution, Inkomati-Usuthu Catchment Management Agency, has called for further restrictions on water supply from the Crocodile River.

In a letter to the Mbombela town council, the agency called for the reduction of raw water use abstraction by at least 20 per cent with immediate effect at all locations within the Crocodile River catchment and its tributaries.

“We are currently releasing 6m³/s from Kwena Dam, and have restricted the irrigation sector to half of their full unrestricted abstraction hours,” the letter read.

The Crocodile River, meanwhile has completely stopped downstream of the Malalane area, leaving surrounding communities reliant on the Nkomazi River and the Driekoppies Dam for water consumption, which according to the local council spokesperson, Cyril Ripinga was not enough to supply the more than 50 communities in the area.

The South African Weather Service last week predicted low rainfall this season which may result in even more aggravating circumstances.

Last week, both Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal were declared drought disaster areas.

Limpopo premier, Stan Mathabatha Mathabatha said a thorough assessment of the drought situation found that all district and local municipalities in the province faced the worst drought conditions recorded in years.

“This (declaration) brings hope for our communities and the provincial economy since it means that as the province we will be fighting this crisis with national government and this will help strengthen our efforts at mitigating the impact of the drought,” KZN MEC for cooperative governance and traditional affairs Nomusa Dube-Ncube said.

– Caxton News Service