Posted by: Saving Water SA (Cape Town, South Africa) - partnered with Water Rhapsody conservation systems – 07 July 2010

SA’s economic hub will run short of water should a severe drought occur in the next 10 years, as water losses have not been stemmed and new sources of supply are still 10 years away, according to a leading engineer.

Mohale Dam. The second phase of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project will supply Gauteng only in 2020.

The second phase of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project will supply Gauteng only in 2020, although, according to experts, SA’s major Vaal River system is already in deficit, as is the Umgeni system.

Negotiations were still under way with the government of Lesotho regarding the flagship project, the Department of Water Affairs said on Friday.

“It is expected to take more than nine years to prepare for and implement the project,” the department said. Once implemented, this second phase would be able to transfer 479-million cubic metres annually to SA.

However, until this project was completed, SA ran the risk of severe water restrictions in the event of a critical drought in the next 10 years, said engineer Dr Chris Herold, a council member of the South African Institution of Civil Engineering.

Dr Herold said there was a mismatch between water demand and new sources of supply, resulting from a failure to stem water losses in the system.

Having a deficit in the Vaal River system was an unacceptable risk to run for the next 10 years, he said. The system, which supplies Gauteng, already had a 2% supply deficit, which would progressively worsen to an 11% deficit by 2019, he said. Continue reading SA runs risk of severe water restrictions