WATER
Gamtoos farmers’
DILEMMA W
ith the dam level hovering at around 10% capacity in early 2021, the situation for the year ahead seems as dire – which is why the Gamtoos Irrigation Board (GIB) that manages the dam’s water, is focusing on water demand management. Currently, 132 farmers are reliant on the Kouga Dam. Also, a portion of the dam’s water is diverted to the nearby Sarah Baartman District and the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality for their residents’ usage. Rienette Colesky, CEO of the irrigation board, explains the practicalities of managing a major dam in the region when the level drops to the 10% mark. “The water is turned off on a Thursday and then back on again on a Sunday night,” she says, adding that effectively, farmers receive their monthly water allocations in quarterly amounts. “Meters are read twice a month, and these readings are supplied to the farmers so that they can plan in terms of their water usage. Usage differs depending upon the seasons. A full allocation of water from the dam equates to 8 000m³ per hectare of land farmed. Under the restrictions, farmers receive 1 600m³ per hectare. Farmers know that water demand management is a legal matter,” she explains, adding that if water users go over their allocations, their supply is switched off. The kind of farming undertaken in the area comprises citrus, dairy and cash crops – each of which is affected by the restrictions. Citrus farmers struggle to keep their trees, even on an allocation of 40% of users’ annual water allocations. This means that they must decide whether to keep their older trees in a bid to yield a crop, or instead cull those orchards and keep the smaller, newer ones which use less water. The problem with citrus is that trees only bear fruit after about four years, so in a bid to keep younger trees, a farmer loses out on a harvest. For dairy farmers, the issue is grazing. The restrictions that have been
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Since June last year, farmers in the Eastern Cape’s Gamtoos River Valley have had to make do with just 20% of the annual water allocations from the Kouga Dam. BY THE GAMTOOS IRRIGATION BOARD
imposed in the valley area are not the same in other areas, so farmers may move their herds, for example, to nearby Oyster Bay, which is not dependant on the water from Kouga Dam. Other coping measures include buying in feed, says Colesky. Cash crop farmers in the Mondplaas area face a particular predicament especially the farmers who grow strawberries and blueberries. The nature of the irrigation is that crops need less water, but more often. With the water supply from the dam being shut off for a period of time each week, this type of irrigation becomes tricky to maintain. The knock-on effects of the drought extend into the communities in the valley. There are pre-packaging facilities in the area which have contracts to supply major retailers with their products. Loss of such contracts through failure to deliver could have dire consequences on the livelihoods not only of the farmers but also of their employees. Some farmers have moved their planting out of the valley – an action which has had an economic effect on the community. Despite what appears to have been decent rains in recent months, Colesky says it has not been in the Kouga Dam catchment area, the Langkloof. Unless between 200 and 300mm of rain falls in the catchment over a relatively short period, the Kouga Dam level will remain relatively unchanged, she says. Making every drop of water count starts with a dedicated infrastructure maintenance plan, adds Colesky. “Every reported crack or leak is dealt with immediately, and in a year like last year when there was an 85% water allocation [prior to the 2020/21 water year 20% restriction], a loss of just 12,3% was recorded. It is clear then, that with the constraints on water supply, the process of water demand management is vital for the survival of the community.”
