(Picture by Fatima Yusuf Source Unsplash.com)

In a Special Council Meeting, held late yesterday afternoon 2 December, the Knysna Council unanimously voted to declare the current water-stressed situation a ‘Local State of Emergency’, and to increase water restrictions from Level 3 to Level 4.

This at the recommendation of Municipal Manager Lulamile Mapholoba, who cited three main reasons:-
1. That the Municipality’s water sources are under severe stress, and the current supply is not sufficient to meet the demand;
2. That the area has been experiencing drought conditions, which have significantly impacted the water levels in local rivers and dams;
3. That the ageing water infrastructure is struggling to meet the demands of a growing population, leading to increased risk of water losses and contamination.

It seems that the chief reason for this declaration was to allow the Municipality to be able to access additional financial assistance from the Garden Route District Municipality and both the Provincial and National governments. Such funds would be used to alleviate the current dire situation and put measures in place to minimise recurrence through improved infrastructure.

But whilst everyone agreed that Greater Knysna is in a very tenuous situation, with hordes of visitors set to arrive for the December holiday season, the message at the meeting was certainly not one of ‘pending disaster’.

In a rundown of the current water situation presented by Director of Infrastructure Services Regenald Wesso, Council was informed that the heavy rains over the weekend had improved the position overall and that in Knysna the Charlesford supply station was back on line.

“We are by no means out of the woods,” Wesso warned, adding that the Municipality should put an emphasis on managing demand, which was currently high, by enforcing restrictions and encouraging less usage.
“We need to look at reducing current consumption by 30%,” he advised.

Much of his report outlined the breakdown of infrastructure, which has resulted in ‘unaccounted for water’ sitting at almost 48% of Greater Knysna’s total yield.“If our (daily) demand at this stage sits at 15 megalitres, we are actually losing almost half of that amount,” he explained.

Leaks in the system, he said, were a huge problem and efforts to locate them were one of the department’s top priorities.

Wesso also pointed out that there was simply too much unbilled water. Whilst 25 000 invoices were sent out monthly, there were a further 11 000 accounts not being billed for water, he said. Much of this was the result of faulty meters being bypassed – either legally by municipal staff to ensure the continuous supply to the resident, or illegally by the residents themselves.

However, whilst all this was being investigated as a matter of urgency, Wesso insisted that the Municipality is currently producing water at the normal rate for the Knysna area, though this could change very quickly if infrastructure fails or dry conditions worsen.

Regarding Sedgefield, he told the councillors that the good rains in the Karatara catchment area over the weekend would, he believed, bring good test results for potable water. Further, the five boreholes were producing just under one megalitre a day which would assist in diluting the salt content in the reservoirs.

Towards the end of the meeting, and before the council voted to adopt his recommendations, Municipal Manager Lulamile Mapholoba himself assured the councillors that the water shortage should not be labeled a crisis situation, that visitors were still most welcome, and that the situation could be effectively handled by the Knysna administration “There are challenges,” he admitted, “But we have called for help, not a takeover.”