Facing the possibility of having no water in the next three months, Kouga municipality has introduced watershedding schedules from Monday for the Hankey and Patensie areas.
This comes after the Kouga Dam level plunged to below 7% this week.
While households and businesses in both towns rely almost entirely on the Kouga Dam, the water rationing is imperative to ensure the available water supply lasts for as long as possible.
Kouga mayor Horatio Hendricks said if no rain fell in the catchment area, Hankey and Patensie could be left with no water in their taps within the next three months.
“We have been trying to delay the need for watershedding, but the situation is critical and we can’t avoid it any longer.
“Both towns have also been using more than their allotted quota, adding to the urgency.
“We know that it will be a difficult adjustment for the affected communities, but we ask that they bear with us.
“This measure is necessary to help keep water in the taps for as long as is possible.”
Hendricks said the water to the towns would be switched off for the greater part of the day, seven days a week, starting on Monday.
There will be two “washing days” during which water will be available for a bit longer.
The two “washing days” are Wednesdays and Saturdays.
On these days, water will be available from 4.30am to 11am and again from 4pm to 8pm.
On the other five days, water will be available only from 4.30am to 8am and then from 4pm to 8pm in the evening.
Hendricks said the municipality would also continue its programme to conserve and increase the water supply to Hankey and Patensie.
“We are conducting an audit of water usage at houses so that internal leaks on properties can be identified and repaired.
“This is especially important in previously disadvantaged areas where residents don’t always have the means or money to have leaks repaired.”He said the municipality’s borehole programme also showed promise, despite the areas around Hankey and Patensie not being conducive to groundwater extraction.
“The yields are generally low and the salt content of the water is high. The municipality has, however, had some success in this regard.
“We struck water at Zuurbron near Hankey, as well as near the Kouga Dam, and expect to receive the full test results this week.”
Gamtoos Irrigation Board financial and HR manager Rienette Colesky said the farming community had been restricted to 20% of its water quota for the current water year, from July to June 2019.
“The towns have been exceeding their limit for a long time now and the agricultural community has been restricted since 2016,” Colesky said.
“Everyone is using water from the same supply source, from Kouga Dam, and unfortunately we are in a drought, we have to make do with what we have and manage the water source at this moment in time,” she said.
Colesky said if a farmer exceeded the total quota allocated to him for a water year the farmer’s taps would be closed.