Jamiatul Ulama KZN Council of Muslim Theologians
Thursday 21 May 2015 10:15
SABC
South Africa is experiencing a dry season due to the past season not being as rainy as hoped. (SABC)
Department of Water Affairs Spokesperson, Sputnik Ratau says South Africa is experiencing a water shortage due to the past rainy season not being as rainy as it was expected to be.
Ratau continues to mention that South Africa is one of the 30 driest countries in the world and as a country it is important to know that every drop of water wasted is a drop less of water the country will have at the end.
Department of Water Affairs is encouraging South Africans to use water sparingly. It says every effort that can be used at every level by everyone will help the country save water.
Water shortage looms due to drought
South Africa is facing water shortages after the worst drought since 1992 cut dam levels by 12% from a year earlier as most of the country enters its four-month dry season.
Drought in eastern and central South Africa around the turn of the year has slashed maize and sugar output and may trigger water shortages for homes and businesses.
Weaker river flow also threatens water quality. South Africa is the 30th-driest nation on Earth, according to the government, which expects water demand to outstrip supply as early as 2025.
“Water will definitely be at a premium over the next few months,” said Sputnik Ratau, a spokesperson for the Department of Water Affairs. Toward the end of the dry season “we will be in an even more dire situation in terms of available water”.
“Water will definitely be at a premium over the next few months,” said Sputnik Ratau, a spokesperson for the Department of Water Affairs. Toward the end of the dry season “we will be in an even more dire situation in terms of available water”.
The country’s dams are 79.2% full, down from 90.1% a year earlier, according to data on the department’s website. Ratau didn’t know the last time dam levels were lower. Of the seven largest dams, four have “low” or “moderately low” reserves, data show.
Anthony Turton, a professor at the Centre for Environmental Management at the University of the Free State, said water quality may decline as rivers can’t flush away sewage and dilute toxic discharges from mines.
“The balance of probability suggests that we can anticipate a severe drought in the near future,” Turton said. “Water restric- tions are likely to be imposed.”
KwaZulu-Natal, home of most of South Africa’s sugar industry, is the worst-affected province with dam levels down 17.5 percentage points. Reserves in the North West and Free State provinces are 14.6 and 10.7 percentage points lower than last year respectively, department figures show.
Water resources under pressure in KZN
Blain Herman
People walk long distances to fetch water.(SABC)
South Africa is a water stressed country but in KwaZulu-Natal, the situation is being compounded by an extended dry spell leaving many desperate for sustained rainfall.
Northern KwaZulu-Natal’s Maphumulo is one of the areas most affected by the shortage.
A resident in Maphumulo, Thembi Khanyile struggles each day to get water. She says: “It’s important to have water in the yard. I don’t have anyone to fetch water for me, I have to beg and pay young boys to fetch water for me so I can be able to cook and do my washing.”
Hope is on the horizon now as seven families have been relocated to make way for a 28m high dam.
Mvutshane Dam can hold about three million cubic meters of water.
It should provide a more sustainable supply to the Maphumulo community.
Desalination options are being investigated
The extended dry spell has taken its toll on the province with around nine district municipalities affected.
An emergency system currently being built from the uThongathi River will help augment the new dam’s water supply.
Government is pumping in money to help drought-stricken districts.
Desalination options are being investigated.
Umgeni water’s Steve Gillham says; “If we had to build a desal plant now it would take us over four to five years. We could get it in and it is certainly quicker and faster than building a dam. So those plans are in place if things persist we can certainly look at those measures but for one a year drought period, its still not the right option for it.”
For more on this watch below;
The KZN government has also started connecting water pipes in the yards of the Maphumulo residents. This is a project that will be rolled out in phases and should be completed in five years
“Business as usual” will create a thirsty planet in 15 years: UN
REUTERS
Competition for water between water-thirsty sectors means better management is essential to ensure everybody gets the water they need.(REUTERS)
The planet faces a 40% shortfall in water supplies in 15 years due to urbanisation, population growth and increasing demand for water for food production, energy and industry, the United Nations said on Friday.
Competition for water between water-thirsty sectors means better management is essential to ensure everybody gets the water they need, said the World Water Development Report.
With “business as usual” the world is facing a “collapse in our global socioeconomic system,” Richard Connor, lead author of the report, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
By 2050 two thirds of the world’s population will be living in cities and demand for water is expected to increase by 55%, mainly from demands related to growing urbanisation in developing countries.
Urbanisation means that access to safe water and adequate sanitation, although typically higher in cities, has decreased in the fastest growing urban areas.
One example is sub-Saharan Africa, where urbanisation -often unplanned – is happening most rapidly.
Here the proportion of people who have piped water on their premises has fallen to 34% from 42% since 1990.
“The spontaneous urbanisation, which creates slums, makes it very difficult because of the layout of the slums to provide water,” Joan Clos, executive director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT), told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in a phone interview from Nairobi.
“Once you have a street then for the water operator it becomes very easy to reach the plots.”
By 2050 the world will have to produce 60% more food and the global water demand for industry is predicted to increase by 400%, said the report, published ahead of World Water Day on March 22.
The growing population will also need 705 more energy and water is required to produce almost all forms of it.
“You have to manage water. If you’re using less water because of your proper irrigation and soil management in agriculture that allows more water to be available for other users,” Connor said.
“Every sector has to pitch in and do its best to be water efficient.” Investing in sustainable water management, although costly, pays off: a $15 to 30 billion invested in improved water resources management in developing countries can have an annual income return of $60 billion, the report said. “Over the long term investing in water and sanitation is cost-effective. That is the convincing argument that it’s not just to help the poor, it’s actually good business,” said Connor.
Cities with long-term water plans will have more robust economies within decades, he said, because people who have access to clean water are healthier and have a better chance of getting educated and finding jobs.
