KNYSNA NEWS - After the onslaught of wind and fire beating down on Knysna for the last couple of weeks, one thing that has remained in the background of many residents’ minds is the water crisis the town is currently experiencing.
With firefighters needing every drop of water they could get, and the Greater Knysna not receiving any of the forecasted rain it so desperately needs, acting municipal manager Johnny Douglas is appealing to all residents and visitors to be mindful of their water usage.
According to Douglas, Knysna received a mere 1mm of rain in the week of June 12 to 19.
In a press release issued on Monday, June 19, Douglas said that both the Gouna and Knysna Rivers that feed Knysna’s off-channel storage Akkerkloof Dam, have stopped flowing, adding that the current water level of the Knysna River is 100mm below the weir at the Charlesford extraction point.
“Charlesford is Knysna’s primary abstraction point, and with the level of water being so low we are unable to use all of our pumps to feed much-needed water into the balancing Glebe Dam, before being pumped into the Akkerkloof Dam that feeds Knysna with its water,” said Douglas.
Douglas stated that the Glebe Dam is currently empty, with the Akkerkloof Dam at 33% capacity at the time of going to print.
“This translates into 20 days of water at the current usage of 13.96Ml/day. We are in desperate need to reduce the town’s water consumption as our technical team are managing to produce only 12.5Ml/day,” said Douglas.
Furthermore, the current drought situation is making it impossible to pump water out of rivers that just don’t have water, resulting in dam levels dropping daily, he said.
On alternative sources of water, Douglas said the following:
- The municipality is currently in discussions with the Department of Water Affairs and Sanitation to secure funding for a second storage dam.
- The desalination plant is up and running, capable of complementing the town’s traditional sources by a mere 1.368ML/day when running at capacity.
“I have to commend our technical team for the tireless work they performed in attending to the break in the water system and the numerous water leaks that resulted from these fires,” said Douglas, adding that all visitors and residents of Greater Knysna are asked to use municipal potable water for human consumption only.
Residents who may be experiencing water outages can report these on 044-302-6331, and tips on how to reduce water consumption can be found on the municipal website, www.knysna.gov.za.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, June 20 by Minister of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, Anton Bredell, he said that the Western Cape remains a drought-stricken province despite recent rainfall.
“There has been a slight increase in the average dam levels (across the Western Cape) but we are still a long way off from breaking this ongoing drought.
Bredell also cautioned the public to continue to use water sparingly when it does start to rain as is the forecast over the next few weeks.
“We must ensure that dam levels recover, so when it starts to rain, consumers should not revert back to using water wastefully,” he said.
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