Plett best water situation on Garden Route

PLETTENBERG BAY NEWS - Thanks to some rainfall over the past few weeks, Plettenberg Bay’s water situation has improved ever so slightly.

When the town's main storage facility, the Roodefontein Dam, dipped below the 60% mark at the end of May, the Bitou municipality implemented level 1 water restrictions.

“During July this year, the Bitou area received 57mm of rain and during the first week of August 17.8mm, which was 2.8mm above the predicted 15mm,” said municipal spokesperson Howard Swartz.

The rainfall contributed to the dam’s level rising to 60.5%.

Meanwhile, neighbouring towns, including Knysna, are battling to keep the taps running.

Knysna authorities introduced level 3 water restrictions in March this year after being under some form of restriction for the past decade.

The town’s water shortage reached critical levels recently when the level of the main holding facility, the Akkerkloof Dam, reached 30%, which amounts to 19 days' worth of water for Knysna.

Should this level drop any further, level 4 restrictions would be implemented.

Just further along the Garden Route in George, the water situation has also become dire. The town introduced level 1 restrictions in June when the Garden Route Dam dropped below 60% and then level 2 restrictions this month when it decreased to below 45%.