The Nelson Mandela Bay metro, which is facing a critical water shortage, needs to raise more than R1bn to avert a potential economic disaster after the Treasury “indicated” it would not provide all the [...]]]> Posted by: Saving Water SA (Cape Town, South Africa) – partnered with Water Rhapsody conservation systems – 14 February 2011

The Nelson Mandela Bay metro, which is facing a critical water shortage, needs to raise more than R1bn to avert a potential economic disaster after the Treasury “indicated” it would not provide all the funding to alleviate the effects of a prolonged drought.

The drought threatens the government’s automotive production and development plan

Ali Said, the municipality’s infrastructure and engineering director, said last week the Treasury had indicated it would provide only R450m of a requested R1,6bn in aid or about 30% of the emergency funding.

The drought of more than three years threatens billions of rand in investment in the Eastern Cape’s industrial hub, including the government’s priority automotive production and development plan.

Water-intensive industries in the Port Elizabeth, Uitenhage and Despatch area — including South African Breweries, Coca-Cola Fortune, Clover and Parmalat dairy products, chocolate maker Cadbury, and Sappi pulp and paper — have long reduced their water consumption by 25%. The Coega industrial development zone, Volkswagen SA and General Motors SA, which have between them pumped more than R10bn into the region, are also affected.

The Treasury would not be drawn on how much relief it would provide. “Details of funding allocations will be announced in the budget to be tabled in Parliament by the minister of finance. Until then, we have no comment,” said Jabulani Sikhakhane, chief director of communications.

Angus Clark, strategic resources task force chairman of the Port Elizabeth Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said a R450m allocation would be inadequate.

“This sum represents only 28% of the amount deemed essential to secure adequate water for the metro and its growing population and expanding industrial base.”

Dams feeding the area have been slightly above 30% full, and are draining at about 4% a month. This means the city could run dry if there is no significant rain in the next six months.

Although the Eastern Cape government declared a disaster in April last year, it has been slow in quantifying drought funding needs and presenting them to the Treasury.

The chamber said its nearly 800 members were urging the fast-tracking of the Nooitgedacht low-level water scheme that brings water from the Gariep Dam on the Orange River.

“An urgent extension of this project is essential and the most efficient way to provide a long- term solution,” Mr Clark said. “As the R450m indicated allocation would fall short of the R650m required for this fast-tracking, a priority effort must be made to find the R200m shortfall.

“Obviously if water and electricity supply is not sufficient, it will have an adverse effect on investment,” Coega marketing manager Senzeni Ndebele said.

By: Mark Allix
Source: Business Day

The five dams supplying water to the Nelson Mandela Bay are still at critical capacity levels despite the area having experienced recent rainfall, the municipality said on Tuesday.

Churchill Dam

The Kouga, Churchill, [...]]]> Posted by: Saving Water SA (Cape Town, South Africa) – partnered with Water Rhapsody conservation systems – 28 December 2010

The five dams supplying water to the Nelson Mandela Bay are still at critical capacity levels despite the area having experienced recent rainfall, the municipality said on Tuesday.

Churchill Dam

The Kouga, Churchill, Impofu, Lourie and Groendal dams had on average experienced a total combined capacity of 32.7% following the rainfall between 13 and 19 December, spokesman Ongama Mtimka said.

Mtimka said although there was some inflow into the storage dams that raised their capacity levels from the 31% recorded over the past few months, the shortage of water in the Nelson Mandela Bay was still critical.

- Sapa

Three ground-breaking renewable energy projects earmarked for Nelson Mandela Bay with a combined investment value of more than R1-billion are on track, with at least one to start being implemented before the end of the year, top project officials have revealed.

Nelson Mandela Bay’s water crisis is not over yet, with its dams at a combined capacity of 34.8%, but plans are on track to ensure the city’s supply lasts until its desalination plant is completed [...]]]> Posted by: Saving Water SA (Cape Town, South Africa) - partnered with Water Rhapsody conservation systems – 07 July 2010

Nelson Mandela Bay’s water crisis is not over yet, with its dams at a combined capacity of 34.8%, but plans are on track to ensure the city’s supply lasts until its desalination plant is completed next year.

Kouga Dam was completed in 1976 to provide a reliable source of water for the metropolitan area of Port Elizabeth. Photo:'Port Elizabeth Dail Photo' blog.

With the Kouga Dam at 35.3% of capacity, the Churchill 21.4%, Impofu 38.8%, Loerie 36.6% and Groendal 35.5%, there is only enough water to last until March next year if there is no significant rainfall until then.

But municipal spokesman Kupido Baron says plans are under way to secure groundwater until the desalination plant is built.

The municipality applied for the city to be declared a drought disaster area in March, allowing it to apply for R1.6-billion in emergency funding. Although it has not been received, Baron said work had already started on the emergency plan.

Measures included building a R750-million desalination plant and “fast-tracking” of the R650-million Nooitgedacht Dam low-level water scheme. Other measures include using groundwater schemes and improving detection of water losses, requiring an R80-million budget.

“A site for the desalination plant has been identified at Swartkops River and we are working towards securing contractors to start work on (it). Construction is planned to begin in September and it will take six to nine months to complete.”

Baron said the municipality had already started investigating areas where it could find boreholes containing large quantities of water until the plant was completed.

“It would not make sense to sink these boreholes unless we know there is enough water below.

“The recent rains we received did a lot to stabilise the situation, because Churchill Dam was sitting on 10% and now we are on 20%, so that is a major shift, but we are not out of the drought yet and we still need people to adhere to our water restrictions,” Baron added.

Although the emergency funding had not become available yet, it would only be a matter of time.

“We have been declared a disaster area, so the government has a legal responsibility to approve the emergency funding.

“It is only a question of how much and when we will receive it.”

Source: Weekend Post

How can communities develop economically and socially without damaging the fragile ecosystems they live in?

That was the primary question at a seminar hosted at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University on Friday by the national [...]]]> Posted by: Saving Water SA (Cape Town, South Africa) - partnered with Water Rhapsody conservation systems – 24 May 2010

How can communities develop economically and socially without damaging the fragile ecosystems they live in?

That was the primary question at a seminar hosted at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University on Friday by the national Department of Social Welfare, the UN’s Leadership for Environment and Development (Lead) programme and the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality.

Agathosma serpyllacea - coastal fynbos, Western Cape

The seminar is one of six set to take place over the next six months in preparation for the International Training Session on Population, Climate Change and Development Conference in Port Elizabeth, in October.

One of the speakers at Friday’s event, Schalk Potgieter, assistant director of strategic planning in the municipality’s human settlement unit, said the nexus of population development and critical ecosystems was a crucial one in Mandela Bay.

Five biomes or broad indigenous vegetation zones meet here and two, coastal fynbos and thicket, are particularly fragile.

These ecosystems are vulnerable to human development and also to climate change, which will likely result in rising seas and increasingly fierce and frequent storms – putting pressure especially on impoverished communities living on marginal land.

This can result in migration by “climate change refugees” and conflict, in turn, with people in the areas where they migrate to, and greater pressure on that land.

Another predicted result of climate change, which is already being felt, is increased rainfall in the eastern part of the province – and increased aridity in the western region, including the metro.

“This means greater pressure on our drinking water supplies and on our food security. It means possible outbreaks of disease due to the arrival of vectors like mosquitos that were not prevalent here before.”

Most of all, he says, it means we must take good care of what water we have and that means we must take care of fragile ecosystems like wetlands, which purify water and stem floods, when they do come, storing and distributing it sustainably.

One of the corners of the metro where this need to protect is not being implemented is in the Chatty 3 and Chatty 4 sections, where illegal dumping of rubbish and rubble is eroding the capacity of local wetlands to carry out these important functions.

Lack of awareness of the illegality of these actions and of the importance of the wetlands is one of the reasons for this dumping, but it was also the result of a lack of services, he admitted.

The metro had to act urgently in 2005 to move families living on the Soweto-on-Sea floodplain because their shacks were in danger of being swamped by floods. In 2006, the floods came and the Zanemvula (“comes with the rain”) Project was signed off.

Three thousand four hundred people were moved across to new homes in Chatty extensions. But because it had to be done so urgently, only basic services and no clinics, schools or proper waste management were set in place.

The metro is rectifying the situation as well as building more homes for a further 7000 people who are due to move into the area.

“We have to have to ensure that simultaneous, integrated delivery takes place of houses, services and also eco-education and buy-in from the community on the need to protect their environment.”

The metro would mount a wide-scale refuse and rubble clean-up, he said.

Metro public health portfolio chairman Noluthando Mapu welcomed the seminars and the capacity they would help to build. “We need to become more informed so we in turn can reach out to our communities,” she said.

- Guy Rogers
Source: Weekend Post

Schools in Nelson Mandela Bay are signing up for an initiative that will not only help them save water, but also gain valuable knowledge.

Rainwater Harvesting by Water Rhapsody

The Port Elizabeth Regional Chamber [...]]]> Posted by: Saving Water SA (Cape Town, South Africa) - partnered with Water Rhapsody conservation systems – 22 May 2010

Schools in Nelson Mandela Bay are signing up for an initiative that will not only help them save water, but also gain valuable knowledge.

Rainwater Harvesting by Water Rhapsody

The Port Elizabeth Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Percci) teamed up with the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality with the idea to promote water saving at schools, as the combined dam water level is currently an abysmal 35.5%.

Flowing from the water-saving idea came an adopt-a-school project, with several companies now having adopted schools in the Bay to help them get their water systems in order, for instance by fixing leaks.

Percci chief executive Kevin Hustler said the organisation was pleased the initiative has been embraced by industry.

“It is making a difference by reaching out to poor communities with help not only in reducing water wastage, but also in creating a better schooling environment for learners and teachers,” Hustler said.

“We are very concerned about the water crisis and have been working with the metro to spread the word about saving water to industry. “Because schools were identified as one of the major areas of water wastage (accounting for up to 7% of the metro’s water consumption), we encouraged the major industries to get involved and make a difference in their own plants as well as in the wider community.”

Percci’s water working group and the municipality’s water department shared ideas on water-saving ideas, such as looking at borehole management, harvesting rainwater from factory roofs, use of grey water and recycled water, and also initiatives like the adopt-a-school project.

So far 14 needy schools in the Bay have been earmarked for the project and several other companies have also come on board to assist the schools.

Municipal spokesman Kupido Baron said “The environmentally sound programmes will benefit children and influence them on a long term basis by allowing them to grow up to care for the environment”.

- Shaanaaz de Jager
Source: Weekend Post

The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality’s Council today (Thursday, March 25) declared Nelson Mandela Bay a local drought disaster area in terms of the Disaster Management Act (Act 57 of 2002).

In addition to this critical [...]]]> Posted by: Saving Water SA (Cape Town, South Africa) - partnered with Water Rhapsody conservation systems – 26 March 2010

The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality’s Council today (Thursday, March 25) declared Nelson Mandela Bay a local drought disaster area in terms of the Disaster Management Act (Act 57 of 2002).

In addition to this critical drought declaration an application will now be made to the Eastern Cape Provincial and National Government for additional funds to the tune of R1,6 billion to assist Nelson Mandela Bay, incorporating Port Elizabeth, Uitenhage, Despatch, Colchester and surrounding peri-urban areas, to implement emergency measures.

These emergency measures include amongst others the implementation of a desalination plant (R750 million), fast tracking of the Nooitgedacht Low Level Scheme (R650 million) and effective Water Demand Management (R80 million).

Shortly after the declaration was accepted, the Nelson Mandela Bay Executive Mayor Zanoxolo Wayile made a call on residents and society at large to appreciate the fact that Nelson Mandela Bay is a water scarce region and the country at large.

“All organs of society, albeit social groupings, churches, trade unions, businesses and residents must all continue to support our efforts to save water.

“We are also working closely together with the Department of Education to ensure that something is done urgently to save water at schools,” Mayor Wayile added.

Furthermore, the declaration of Nelson Mandela Bay as a local drought disaster area provides the necessary leniency in terms of various acts such as the Municipal Finance Management Act and the National Environmental Management Act to implement the emergency projects much quicker.

During this full sitting of Council a decision was also taken that the Acting Municipal Manager, Mr Elias Ntoba, must be authorized to act on all matters relating to the disaster as may be required in consultation with the Executive Mayor.

In addition, Council also approved the Water Services Bylaw for the Municipality which will replace the nine Water and Sanitation Bylaws that govern the provision of water services of the old disestablished City, Town Councils and Transitional Local Authorities. The Water Services Act (108 of 1997) requires Water Services Authorities to set bylaws in place in order to facilitate the provision of water services.

Environmentalist Andrew Muir, founder of the Umzi Wethu training academy and a former The Herald Citizen of the Year, has warned that the increasing number of unregulated boreholes in Nelson Mandela Bay could permanently destroy [...]]]> Posted by: Saving Water SA (Cape Town, South Africa) - partnered with Water Rhapsody conservation systems – 23 February 2010

Environmentalist Andrew Muir, founder of the Umzi Wethu training academy and a former The Herald Citizen of the Year, has warned that the increasing number of unregulated boreholes in Nelson Mandela Bay could permanently destroy the vast groundwater supply.

Zolile Keke, Water Affairs Department director of institutional establishments, has confirmed an increase in the number of people applying to use borehole water since the region’s water crisis started.

Provincial Water Affairs and Forestry spokesman, Mandi Zenzile, said the department now “requests” that residents in the city, who are considering drilling boreholes for “reasonable” domestic use, inform both the department and municipality.

“Information is required for the department to determine the impact and effect of the total groundwater abstraction on each specific aquifer.” “If the department observes that the aquifers are stressed and abstraction exceeds the sustainable yield of the aquifer, groundwater users will be requested to reduce their abstraction or to cease abstraction completely.”

The Water Affairs Department has admitted that it is not known how many people are using underground water, or how much.

Muir said it would be impossible to extract fresh water ever again if water in the underground wells combined with saltwater from the sea. “The problem is that our underground water supply is not endless. If the water drops below sea level, then seawater will leak into these underground wells”. “We have to treat our underground water supply as if it is a precious commodity.”

“Our underground water should be regulated and managed, now more than ever, because of the water crisis.

Source: The Weekend Post

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No substantial rainfall can be expected in drought stricken Nelson Mandela Bay before September.

Water and sanitation director Barry Martin warned that the water supply would run out in October and in some areas by July.

A R500 million pipeline from the Orange River Project is on the cards for Nelson Mandela Bay Metro in South Africa’s Eastern Cape Province to alleviate future water shortages. Parts of the Eastern Cape are in [...]]]> Posted by: Saving Water SA (Cape Town, South Africa) - partnered with Water Rhapsody conservation systems
25 January 2010

A R500 million pipeline from the Orange River Project is on the cards for Nelson Mandela Bay Metro in South Africa’s Eastern Cape Province to alleviate future water shortages. Parts of the Eastern Cape are in the grip of a crippling drought and dam levels in the Metro are at critical levels.

The first phase of the pipeline is already in existence stretching from the Gariep Dam near Venterstad towards the Eastern Cape through the Orange River Tunnel connecting with Cradock, Somerset East and Kirkwood. The water will be treated at the Nooitgedagt Water Works plant at Addo. It will be pumped into the Oliphants Reservoir before it gravitates into the metro’s articulation system.

Once up and running in 2013, it will supplement Nelson Mandela Bay’s Water by 270 mega litres of water each day. At present the crisis is that only rain in the catchment area will alleviate the immediate water shortage. Metro officials are engaged in phase two of a plan to prevent this type of crisis happening again.

Three years away and the metro only has enough water left for 10 months, if it does not rain soon. Short term intervention is focused on water conservation. The catchment dams are in the interior where they usually get summer rainfall. Studies of the area over the past 20 years show that drought conditions are experienced every four years. If no good rains fall soon, the next time significant falls can be expected will be September.

Source: SABC News