AFTER a year of being able to draw 85% of their annual water allocations from the Kouga Dam, Gamtoos Valley farmers are facing the bleak prospect of having their water allocations cut dramatically for the coming water year, as the Kouga Dam level sinks below 10% capacity. <\/p>\n
The pending July 1 cut in allocations for the 132 water users in the valley who rely wholly on the dam for their citrus, cash crop and dairy production, would mean a dramatic drop in economic activity in a region heavily dependent on agricultural production. <\/p>\n
Aside from the agricultural water users, the Kouga and Nelson Mandela Bay municipalities also draw from the dam, one of the Eastern Cape\u2019s largest water sources. <\/p>\n
Rienette Colesky, CEO of the Gamtoos Irrigation Board, which oversees water usage from the dam, said, \u201cAgricultural users in the Gamtoos Valley have been very careful with their water use. At the end of April, agricultural users\u2019 water usage was 15.6% lower than normal.\u201d <\/p>\n
She further said NMB was also currently drawing less than its allocated quota.<\/p>\n
Colesky said the department would make a call on the new quotas after a thorough scientific analysis had considered the level of all the water resources in the Algoa System and the demand connected to them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe dam normally fills up during floods, when there is a heavy and high rainfall in the Langkloof, which is the dam\u2019s catchment area. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat area is, however, very dry and very much in need of rain right now,\u201d said Colesky.<\/p>\n
GIB chairperson and citrus farmer in the valley, Tertius Meyer, said, a 25% or 30% allocation of farmers\u2019 annual water quotas would help carry them through two-to-three dry months until the next peak rainfall period of October\/November.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis past year\u2019s 85% water allocation gave farmers a bit of a breather from heavy water restrictions of those in previous years. As citrus farmers, we used the higher water allocations to plant young trees, which are now maturing and require more water. So, there is more pressure on us if we get restricted allocations,\u201d said Meyer.<\/p>\n
For vegetable and other cash crop farmers, a restricted allocation means they will not be able to plant a full crop and they will therefore need to hire less labour. <\/p>\n
Meyer said with the catchment being as dry as it is, they need floods, or something close, to fill up the dam soon. According to Johan Kotze, chairperson of Langkloof Water and director for Dutoit Agri Eastern Cape, which owns farms in the Langkloof, the last time the region received its average annual rainfall was in 2015.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost dams in this area are either dry or have very little water, indicating that these would first need to overflow before run-off from good rains could reach the Kouga Dam,\u201d said Kotze. <\/p>\n
Port Elizabeth Weather Office spokesperson, Garth Sampson, agreed that only heavy rains could make a meaningful difference to dam levels. \u201cIf we have a normal to even above normal rainfall, the veldt will be awesome, but the dams will remain empty, as there will be little run-off. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis region relies on cut-off lows that deposit copious amounts of rain in a short period, causing maximum run-off and filling the dams,\u201d said Sampson.<\/p>\n
He further said, a minimum of 50mm of rain in 24 hours was needed over the entire Langkloof to produce the required run-off to make any marked difference to the Kouga Dam\u2019s levels. This must occur at regular intervals, approximately twice a year.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe water crisis will never be over in this region and many parts of the world. <\/p>\n
\u201cWater is a limited and a finite resource, and the demand is constantly increasing. Conserving water must become a way of life for us going forward,\u201d said Sampson.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
AFTER a year of being able to draw 85% of their annual water allocations from the Kouga Dam, Gamtoos Valley farmers are facing the bleak prospect of having their water allocations cut dramatically for the coming water year, as the Kouga Dam level 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