Impofu Dam
The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality advised residents to
cut down to 50 liters of water per person per day as water supply reached a
critical point with abstraction at the Impofu Dam stopped due to prevailing
drought conditions.
The combined capacity of the major supply dams for Nelson
Mandela Bay are now alarmingly below 34%.
Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality Member of the Mayoral
Committee for Infrastructure, Engineering, Electricity and Energy, Andile
Lungisa, said the necessary steps are now put in place to follow the
implementation of a drought declaration by the Eastern Cape Provincial
Government in October.
"Work is now being put into place to ensure that the
necessary interventions are put in place to manage our water with a greater
emphasis on conservation and the reporting of leaks.
"Water is a precious natural resource to which our
residents have a constitution right to, which means we are reliant on
sufficient rainfall, to deliver on this priceless source for our
constituencies,” MMC Lungisa said.
Since November 2015 the Metro has been experiencing
a dry period of below average monthly rainfall, resulting in declining dam
levels and water storage capacities. In September 2018 good rains occurred in
very specific catchments and the average dam levels increased from 17.82% to
53.03%. This rainfall created a false sense of security as certain catchment
areas did not receive significant rainfall and since then the average levels
have continued to drop, currently at 33.96% as of 11 November 2019.
During a visit to the Impofu Dam, the largest supply dam to
the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality, Senior Director for Water and Sanitation,
Barry Martin, said abstraction of water at the dam had to stop as the lowest intake
point of the dam is above the water level of the dam currently.
"Approximately 100 mm rain was measured in Kareedouw during
recent rain but it did not result in any significant inflow in Impofu as yet.
"The water levels of Churchill dam rose to early 90% but
for the city to benefit more significantly, the Churchill Dam must overflow and
fill up the Impofu Dam as they are both located on the Kromme River.
"This Impofu Dam is currently at 16% and we might
still be able to drop the level to 9% as we hope to float a barge on the dam
with pumps fitted on it.
"We will then pump water from the dam into the
inlets of the tower to distribute it to our consumers.
"The most critical issue is that we must cut back on
water consumption. We found that too many people use more than 1000 liters of
water a day. In a drought situation it is criminal. We need to stick to 50
liters per person per day,” Martin said.
Ends
Issued on behalf of the Nelson Mandela Bay
Municipality by Municipal Spokesman Kupido Baron (082 780 2726 / 041 506 1500 /kbaron@mandelametro.gov.za /
@kupidobaron).