PLETTENBERG BAY NEWS - Bitou has been given a water breather with permission to continue its uptake of water from the Keurbooms River, Plettenberg Bay's main source of water.

The concession, which was given by the Department of Water Affairs last week, will only apply until February.

This comes after Bitou Municipality presented its medium- and long-term plans around water to Graham Paulse, the Western Cape Local Government Head of Department, that headed a delegation of engineers, hydrologists and key water specialists in the province to Bitou on Wednesday 3 December.

"I'm comfortable that the Bitou Municipality is handling and managing the water challenges adequately," Paulse said.

Awareness
He said some steps were identified to be implemented immediately, to ensure that water is managed the over the festive season.

"Although there's adequate water, we must raise awareness among community members, businesses and citizens to use water sparingly," said Paulse.

The provincial technical support team that did the assessment reportedly indicated that the medium-term outlook is stable, according to Plett Ratepayers Association chairperson, Tony Blignaut.

In a circular sent to members he said, however, that no guidance was provided on immediate, high-risk, short-term interventions, such as restoring the desalination plant to full capacity, enabling extraction from the Roodefontein Dam, or prioritising urgent repairs and maintenance.

"These omissions are particularly worrying as we approach a forecasted low rainfall, high-season period, when demand for water increases dramatically. 

We are further concerned by the absence of action on longstanding infrastructure needs, chronic underspending on capital and repairs budgets, and ongoing staff vacancies in the Water Department. These are all issues we have repeatedly raised," said Blignaut.

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