THE Knysna River, which supplies about 80 per cent of the town‘s water, has stopped flowing and the municipality has urgently appealed to residents to drastically cut their consumption.
Knysna technical services director Neale Perring said yesterday the water crisis in the greater Knysna area had worsened due to the recent hot and dry weather
“The most crucial (water source), the Knysna River, has stopped flowing and the Karatara, Homtini and Gouna rivers are in dire straits,” he said.
Water is being pumped from a pool in the Knysna River upstream of the weir and Perring said they were trying to establish how much water the pool contained – the first time this has been necessary in 20 years.
“The municipality has no alternative but to reintroduce a total ban on the use of hosepipes in the greater Knysna area,” said Perring.
“As was achieved in Sedgefield, the demand for water must be halved to retain the water reserves for as long as possible.”
Areas affected include Knysna, Brenton, Belvidere, Buffalo Bay, Karatara, Rheenendal and Sedgefield.
“The municipality will be patrolling for water wastage and illegal water use, and fines will be issued.
“High water consumers will be investigated and monitored daily.
“Currently, the water consumption for Knysna is 12000 kilolitres per day and this must be reduced to 6000kl per day. An urgent appeal is made to all residents and water users to act responsibly and save every drop of water they can in the interest of the town.”
Perring said 80% of Knysna‘s water supply was pumped from the Knysna River and the remaining 20% from the Gouna River. The Akkerkloof Dam, the town‘s raw water storage facility, which is not fed by any major river, had about 20 days of water supply left at the current consumption rate.
Perring said water was not being drawn from the dam at present.
Knysna DA leader Richard Dawson said he had urgently raised the dwindling supply at a municipal meeting on March 3 and questioned why water restrictions implemented recently had been lifted in such a short period of time.
He said he had asked how the public would react if the decision had to be reversed in four weeks‘ time, but had received no adequate explanation.
The total ban on hosepipes was lifted about two weeks ago and restricted watering times of one hour a day – alternating between even- and uneven- numbered residential addresses – were imposed after rainfall in the area.
Perring said the forests placed a high demand on ground water reserves in very hot, dry weather and these reserves had not been built up enough by the recent rains. If rain fell, the ground water reserves would absorb it, which was why not much run-off was expected into the rivers, he explained.
