South Africa through the Department
of Water and Sanitation has allocated US $547m to JS Moroka Local Municipality to address
water shortages in Mpumalanga.
As part of the interventions to ensure that
communities have access to water, groundwater was identified as one of the key
interventions and drought relief funded boreholes were prioritized.
The funds will be used to finance groundwater
development, construction 15 new boreholes while refurbishing 11 boreholes
which is currently 80% complete. The projects are expected to be completed by
end of this month.
The municipality has experienced water supply
challenges due to persistent drought resulting from low river flows and the
subsequent drying of dams, as is the case with Mkhombo Dam.
The dam located in Siyabuswa, Mpumalanga, serves as
the main source of raw water for the vast semi-rural communities of Dr JS
Moroka Local Municipality, Thembisile Hani Local Municipality and Sekhukhune
District Municipality.
Due to recurring drought conditions, Mkhombo Dam
levels dropped to 1% in June 2019, which has been declining since the onset of
the drought in 2014. The declining trend is due to the fact that in addition to
abstractions to meet raw water demand, the shallow dam basin and large surface
area set the stage for elevated evaporation.
“The Mkhombo Dam catchment is characterized by low seasonal rainfall and low runoff, which has since been magnified by prevailing drought conditions. Mkhombo Dam has a storage capacity of 205 million cubic meters but over the years, it has hardly ever filled up due to its catchment characteristics,” said the water department. https://constructionreviewonline.com/2019/07/south-africa-allocates-us-547000-for-mpumalanga-water-projects/
