Holidaymakers and George residents will have to work hand in hand this festive season to ensure their plans are not throttled by tighter water restrictions. The George council, at a special meeting on Thursday, approved stricter water demand management measures, moving from level 2B to level 2C with immediate effect. The meeting painted a bleak picture of the George water situation as declining dam levels and ongoing water outages continued to plague the area this week.
And with the summer season in full swing and thousands of visitors expected to descend in the coming weeks, the council also decided that should the dam levels drop below 45% it will move to level 3 restrictions. The Garden Route Dam level is currently at 49% and steadily decreasing by up to 2% a week. Adding to the situation is that the SA Weather Service predicts below-normal rainfall and above-average temperatures for the region this summer.
Civil engineering services political head Donovan Gultig said the decision on restrictions came after the continued decline of the Garden Route Dam. “Despite ongoing appeals and awareness campaigns, water consumption remains high and noncompliance is increasing, while below-normal rainfall has placed the city’s water supply under significant pressure.” Mayor Bronwen Johnson said the municipality could no longer rely on voluntary reductions. “We are entering a critical period.
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The dam is dropping by up to 2% per week, and seasonal demand will push the system even harder. “I urge every resident, business and visitor to use water sparingly,” Johnson said. Johnson said the drought management policy required the implementation of level 2C restrictions with household consumption limited to a maximum of 15kl/month.
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