Garden Route dam dries up ahead of festive season

Warning:

This article may contain graphic and/or adult content unsuitable for minors and sensitive readers.

Supplied

The George Municipality is continuing with water restrictions in the picturesque Garden Route as rainfall has not improved.

In November last year, the town experienced 115mm of rain in three days, which saw the Garden Route Dam spillway overflow for the first time since it was built in 2019.

This week the municipality only got 0.5mm of rain.

Municipal spokesperson, Chantel Edwards says the council of the City of George resolved to continue with water restrictions and has opened a public participation process ahead of implementing emergency tariffs.

The emergency tariffs will see consumers pay more for water.

Edwards says the public has until December 12 to comment on the proposed tariffs.

The existing restrictions include capping household usage to 15kl/month and punishing high water users.

Meanwhile, businesses and the entertainment industries have been told to reduce consumption by 15% of the average use over the previous 6 months and failure to comply will result in a fine.

Industries shall reduce consumption by 10 % of their average use over the previous 6 months. 

Emergency tariffs to be implemented:

1. a) First free 6kl per month for domestic households only.
2. b) All residential consumption, and businesses consuming below 100kl/month, are to be charged as per the tariffs below.
3. c) All other users are to be charged 1,5 x the water tariff as published in the annual tariff list.
4. d) The maximum allowable residential use be reduced to 15 kl / household/month.

This is the picture of the Garden Route Dam in November 2021