The agricultural sector has expressed a number of concerns ahead of the Department of Water Affairs shutting down the Katse and Mohale dams supplying the Vaal River for a six-month rehabilitation to fix corrosion in the tunnel.
The sector’s concerns range from the timing in relation to seasonal activities, adequacy of contingency plans, reserve water quality, biosecurity threats and lack of consultation.
Deputy director-general for infrastructure management at the Department of Water Affairs Livhuwani Mabuda yesterday announced that contingency measures were in place from a cluster of 14 dams to compensate for the reductions as the tunnel will be closed from October to March next year, but stressed that farmers would be affected, especially those drawing water directly from the Vaal River.
The tunnel is part of the first phase of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, a bi-national initiative through which Gauteng receives more than 780 million litres of water from Lesotho which was completed in 1998 with collecting tunnels from Ash River to the Vaal Dam.
Mabuda said the latest in the five-year regular maintenance check-ups in 2019, usually taking two months, had necessitated a longer shutdown of the tunnel to empty the water and reapply corrosion protection to the pipelines.
Mabuda said maintenance was critical to preserve the integrity of the tunnel systems which will, upon completion of the work, function smoothly for the next 20 to 30 years.
“The aim really is to clean up this corrosion that is forming and reapply corrosion protection, once done we should have a tunnel working efficiently for the next 20 to 30 years,” Mabuda said.
“We have contingencies in place so that users upstream from river releases to that section are able to be continuously supplied. There will be those we will have to restrict, like farmers taking water directly from the river flow.”
Residential areas dependent on these tunnels for their water supply, such as Mafube, Nketoana, and Dihlabeng in the Free State and Gauteng provinces, may face water restrictions.
Agri SA’s head of natural resources, Janse Rabie, said much as there was no surprise in the department’s announcement, they had yet to meet to discuss the impact of the six-month shutdown and implications for farmers, particularly in the Free State.
He said while grain crops were generally not irrigated, there were implications for fruit trees.
“We have to see what the contingencies are because there are grave implications for farmers, especially if you are going to take away 40% capacity of water in the dry season,” Rabie said.
“Obviously there are other users like mining and consumption, but what happens if a person has to have that much less water to operate with?”
Rabie also said other concerns that Agri SA was to address to the department included plans to handle biosecurity as the diluting factor of the water to be withheld could have implications on the remaining water sources, not ruling out disease outbreaks.
“There are significant damages to water and sanitation systems of municipalities as you know. If the water levels drop and the frequency of water that is released when required is not there, there will be concentration of toxins in the water systems as that dilution is not there,” he said.
Some municipalities release sewage into the Vaal and Orange rivers.
Black Agricultural Commodities Federation (BACF) deputy chairman Mike Gcabo said the engagements with the department on the impact of the shutdown and contingency measures to be taken was urgent and overdue.
“It is gravely concerning that the department has not consulted with us stakeholders up to this point. The shutdown will happen at a critical period in the season for some crops,” Gcabo said.
“These are things you need to plan in advance for, we ought to have been consulted by now.”
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