Drought bites in Ugu district
"Water scarcity in the district is not a myth but a reality which requires communities to heed the call to safeguard each and every drop of water."
UGU’S water crisis has already begun with ‘water shedding’ taking place from Umzinto to Scottburgh.
In a statement was released by Ugu District Municipality this morning, spokesman France Zama said, “With the drought worsening across the district and little hope for a substantial rainfall, the municipality is set to implement forced water restrictions in the northern part of our district.”
The level of the Umzinto dam is currently at 24.5 percent and is dropping at a rate of about 0.5 percent per day. Should this continue and should there be little or no rainfall, it is anticipated that the assumed dead storage level will be reached by the end of October 2015.
The Umzinto dam supplies Umdoni and Vulamehlo and surrounding areas. “In an effort to ensure we maintain constant basic water supply, consumers residing in these areas are urged to reduce both commercial and residential consumption by 25 percent to ensure that we don’t reach a stage where we have no water available in our system,” said Mr Zama.
To protect the system the municipality will be implementing water restrictions through the installation of water restrictors. This has proven effective in managing water demand and it is anticipated that once these flow restrictors are installed, water savings will be realised, the statement read.
“Water scarcity in the district is not a myth but a reality which requires communities to heed the call to safeguard each and every drop of water available.
“We call upon residents to take heed of our call to use water sparingly to enable the municipality to fulfil its obligation of continuous water supply to our communities,” added Mr Zama.
The municipality encourages the community to forward all water and sanitation related queries, leaks and burst pipes and illegal water connections to their ward councillors, call 08000 WATER (92837) or (039) 688 5830/36 or SMS 44751.
DID YOU KNOW?
Click on the words highlighted in red to read more on this and related topics.
If you are reading this on your cellphone and there are telephone numbers provided in the text, you can call these simply by clicking on them.
To receive news links via BBM, add us using the pins 58F3D7A7 OR 58F25573. The South Coast Herald is also on Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and Instagram – why not join us there?
