SA is moving towards a modified rainfall event with more rain – but this has had no impact on water security in cities where taps have run dry, water expert Prof Anthony Turton has said.
recent heavy rains in some states may mean dams are full, but this may not make a difference when it comes to the water challenges facing many residents.
Rain changes
Turton said the intensity of each rain event was greater than the previous one. “Therefore, this means floods, but it does not mean that we have more rain every year.
“It just means that the rain we’ve had has fallen in very intense episodes and caused the problems we’re seeing now in the Vaal River area.
“This has nothing to do with water security in the cities because it depends not only on the water in the dams, but the capacity to take water from the dams to the water treatment plants, to the bulk storage facilities and to the reticulation system to the cities,” said Turton.
“Even if the Vaal dam is full, you will still have a significant water shortage.
“In fact, there is a growing water crisis in the entire Rand Air supply area due to the lack of long-term planning and, above all, the unregulated influx of people who are simply overloading the water supply system.”
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‘serious crisis’
Turton believes that the residents of the Eastern Cape are facing a serious crisis because in 2002, the National Water Resources Strategy was quite clear that 98% of all water available in SA was allocated to guarantee a higher supply for some economic activities.
“It is also clear that all the coastal cities will have a significant water deficit by 2025 and, in the case of the winter rain areas – Eastern and Western Cape – the problem is that you simply do not have enough water in the rivers.
“Unless you think carefully about developing other alternative water sources, the economic prospects in both provinces are very poor.
“I can’t see a future for coastal cities, from Cape Town to Gqeberha, with desalination plants. “Unless we invest in large-scale seawater desalination, I don’t see a bright economic future for the Eastern and Western Cape… I, in fact, it would say that we have a strong possibility of the local economy collapsing in the East. Cape, especially around the automotive industry, for ten years, ”
Turton said. The rainfall forecast for the winter rainfall area, according to the South African Weather Service, shows below normal rainfall. Another expert, Dr. Lester Goldman, said that while weather patterns will affect water security, of greater concern is the treatment of raw water, stressing that the poor performance of municipalities is a bigger problem.
“Local municipalities are in crisis and the new Green Drop report shows poor performance.”
READ MORE: SA dam levels drop after heavy rains stop
– stephent@citizen.co.za