The Department of Water Affairs together, with the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro (NMBM) is intensifying efforts to improve water security in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro area amid concerns over the significant increase in water use since the drought of 2009-2011 was broken, according to a statement released by the Department of Water Affairs spokesperson, Linda Page on 1 August 2013.

According to the statement, water use is currently between 296 and 300 megalitres per day. This has resulted in dam levels dropping by 1.5% per week. This was among the concerns raised at the recent biannual meeting of the Algoa Reconciliation Strategy Steering Committee held Port Elizabeth. The meeting emphasised that the most important measures to ensure water security over the short to medium term for the Metro area are to intensify water conservation and water demand management measures as well as the completion of the Nooitgedagt Low-level Scheme.

“In addition, investigations relating to possible groundwater sources for Nelson Mandela Bay Metro are complete and drilling sites have been identified. Even with fully successful water conservation and water demand management it is anticipated that the water requirement will increase in this economically active area with its growing population.”

The Metro is constructing the Nooitgedagt Low level Scheme as an extension to the existing High-Level Scheme that treats Orange River water, delivered through the Orange-Fish-Sunday’s transfer system, to drinking water standard for supply

into the Metro’s water supply system. Construction of Phase 1 of the project was completed last month.

According to the recent statement, in order to complete the scheme about R300 million additional funding is required. “The Metro has approached National Treasury in this regard on several occasions but without success.”

However the statement further adds that when operating rules for the Algoa Water Supply System for the 2012/13 water year were evaluated, it was assumed that additional Orange River water would be available to supply the Metro from July 2013 via the Nooitgedagt Low-Level Scheme. “As the new scheme is not complete, the Metro has used more water from the Kouga system than anticipated and their allocation allows. Already 84% of the allocation from the Kouga Dam for the year July 2012 to June 2013 has been used by March 2013. This means that only 16% of the allocation (instead of 25%) is left to be used in the remaining 3 months of the year. From July 2012 to March 2013 the Metro also used its full allocation from the Kromme Supply System (Impofu and Churchill dams).”

According to Page, as the average daily use is currently high, this would mean that water restrictions should be implemented in the near future to bring the abstraction of the Metro in line with their allocation from the Kouga system.