THE Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (NMB) must immediately cease all extraction of water from the Kouga Dam.<\/p>\n
If not, the Kouga Dam, currently at 10.38 % of capacity, will run dry by the end of June this year \u2013 leaving Hankey residents and farmers of the Gamtoos Valley without water.<\/p>\n
This is according to Kouga Executive Mayor, Horatio Hendricks.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Kouga Dam will be at 5.6% of capacity by the end of June,\u201d says Hendricks. \u201cHowever, 3.1% of this total is dead capacity as it cannot be extracted from the dam.\u201d <\/p>\n
According to the DA EC Provincial Leader, Nqabba Bhanga, the DA will write to the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS), as well as the NMB\u2019s Interim Executive Mayor and Acting City Manager, requesting them to act. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey can counteract the shortfall created by not extracting water from the Kouga Dam by making use of demand reduction, water pressure reduction, and by maximizing extraction from the Nooitgedacht Scheme.\u201d<\/p>\n
The NMB currently extracts 60 megalitres of water a day from the Kouga Dam.<\/p>\n
Hendricks says, \u201cIf we do not control the extraction from the Kouga Dam, we will run out of water within seven weeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt a time when water is essential in the fight against Covid-19, a lack of water will be a double blow for residents.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are dealing with a health crisis that is soon going to turn into a humanitarian crisis \u2013 and there will for certain be deaths. If government does not intervene soon, they will have blood on their hands.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a further bid to secure additional water, Hendricks urged the DWS to have all drought projects declared essential services in order for Kouga Municipality to legally complete work in line with current legislation.<\/p>\n
This includes equipping and connecting the viable boreholes to the existing water system: Hankey (seven), Humansdorp (seven), Jeffreys Bay (four), Patensie (two) and Oyster Bay (two).<\/p>\n
According to Hendricks, the water yield to be obtained from the borehole at Soetkloof in Hankey, will be enough to supply the whole of Hankey with water, while Patensie has a holding dam that is currently at full capacity \u2013 sporting enough water for six months.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome R1.1 million will also be used to fix and upgrade dilapidated infrastructure in the area \u2013 all to save as much water as possible,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have furthermore reprioritised our Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) funding and submitted a business plan to Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), which was approved and we are waiting for them to support us.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n Overconsumption<\/b>\n<\/p>\n
According to the DWS, the NMB\u2019s daily water consumption increased to 329 megalitres in March 2020. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe Metro is, therefore, extracting more than the recommended 250 megalitres per day,\u201d says Bhanga. \u201cThe main reason for this overconsumption is the Municipality\u2019s total lack of communication to create public awareness.\u201d<\/p>\n
tion to create public awareness.\u201d<\/p>\n
With this in mind, the DA has launched the \u201cLet\u2019s defeat Day Zero in NMB!\u201d webpage. This one-stop site, available at www.da.org.za\/defeat-day-zero-in-nmb<\/span>, provides critical water-related information.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" THE Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (NMB) must immediately cease all extraction of water from the Kouga 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