Question NW1271 to the Minister of Water and Sanitation

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24 May 2016 - NW1271

Profile picture: Selfe, Mr J

Selfe, Mr J to ask the Minister of Water and Sanitation

(1)What is the water level of the Lomati Dam which supplies water to Barberton in the Umjindi Local Municipality in Mpumalanga as at 30 April 2016; (2) whether (a) the specified municipality and/or (b) any other (i) national and/or (ii) provincial department have asked her department for any form of drought-relief assistance as at 30 April 2016; if so, what are the relevant details in each case; (3) what steps, if any, are (a) her department and/or (b) any other (i) national and/or (ii) provincial department taking to mitigate the effects of the low water levels of the Lomati Dam?

Reply:

(1) The Lomati dam is currently empty. The town of Barberton is now served from the natural surface water flow of the Qeensriver through the Suidkaap Water Treatment Plant. The Suidkaap WTP has been non-operational for almost 10 years and in mitigation of the water situation within the town my Department through Municipal Water Infrastructure Grant (MWIG) allocated R34 million for the resuscitation of the plant, and phase 1 which included the refurbishment of the 4.8Ml Water Treatment Work is complete and was commissioned in August 2015. Phase 2 is concentrating an additional clear water storage and replacement of 5km asbestos rising main pipeline and is due for completion in June 2016.

(2) The Umjindi Municipality has requested DWS for assistance with drought relief intervention. To date my Department has provided Barberton with a 80 kilolitre water storage tank to improve the water storage capacity of the Municipality. In addition to the tank the DWS is funding further civil engineering works at the Suidkaap Water Treatment Plant as alluded to above. These include two concrete water storage reservoirs. A budget of R66 million has been allocated to Umjindi through MWIG and DWS is also facilitating reprioritisation of funding towards refurbishment of eight boreholes within Barberton to improve the water security for the community.

(3) My Department is rolling out implementation of water restriction to regulate the level of water utilisation within the Catchment of the Lomati River. This is aimed at improving the flow levels in the river and ultimately improvement of the dam level.

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