It is raining in Gqeberha, and the South African Weather Service (SAWS) has predicted 30% of rain this weekend.
Despite this, the City continues to experience water disruptions due to the Sundays River Canal tie-in work currently in progress.
This is the 6th day into the project and it is envisaged that work on the critical tie will be completed on Tuesday, 4 July 2024. From Tuesday, the system is expected to gradually recover.
In the interim, areas at high risk of interrupted water supply are Amsterdamhoek, Bethelsdorp, Bloemendal, Despatch, KwaDwesi, Motherwell, Redhouse, Swartkops, Uitenhage and Wells Estate.
What happened to all the water from the recent floods?
David Rymer, Director of Uhambiso Consult (Pty) Ltd, and a former Engineer at the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality said Gqeberha has just survived an intense drought.
“The first drought started with a flood, and 6 years later, we were in a drought. The second, most recent drought was relatively shorter than the first, but more intense.”
The first drought lasted 10 years (1983 – 1993) and the second (2015 – 2023.
Rymer admits the Nelson Mandela Bay is a drought prone Region.
There was no augmentation done for 30 years. In addition, Nooitgedagt should have been implemented in 2012, but was only finalized in 2021.
So where is the problem?
The most recent drought started just after the construction of the Impofu Dam, but the implementation of augmentation was slow, due to supply chain hiccups.
Soon reservoir storage capacity ran low.
What changed between the first and the second drought, is the construction of RDP houses, which meant consumption jumped from 150ml/ day to around 340ml/day.
Main dams supplying the NMBM did not change, and remained- Kouga Dam (63ml/ day), Churchill and Impofu dams (105ml/day), Nooitgedagt (Gariep Dam) – 210 ml/day and other local sources (55 ml/day).
Where to from here? Rymer provided next steps:
The Standardised Precipitation Index (SPI) is used to assess or determine drought events. SP12, for example, is used to respond to changes in monthly rainfall, and deviations from climatological averages over a given period.
SP48, considers dry and wet patterns over a 4 year period.
Rymer suggests one of the key actions required, is to ensure the SPI values are calculated periodically, so as to respond timeously to drought events.
He said saving water is important, for all users, even in the event of a flood.
New sources of bulk water need to be investigated, such as what led to the construction of Nooitgedagt.
Do maintenance and decrease water leaks. “At some stage there were 10, 000 reported water leaks by consumers.”
Picture: WISA Room 22, DEF: Day 3 of the Water Institute of Southern Africa Conference (WISA) in partnership with the Water Research Commission (WRC). From left to right: Dr Sarah Roffe, ARC, Chair of the session, David Rymer (NMBM) and Phillip Majeke (WRC) .
Cover Picture of dam: Bella and Oom Slabbert via Gamtoos Water.