There is enough water for Summer 2009/10 – Mossel Bay Tourism

Mossel Bay has enough water to serve the needs of its summer season.

This is the message that Mossel Bay Tourism wants to emphasise in the run-up to the coastal town’s busiest time of the year.

“The Municipality has assured us that even if it doesn’t rain, there’s enough water in the reservoirs to last us until March 2010 – and in the meantime they’re making every effort to ensure an adequate supply well into the future,” said Mossel Bay Tourism’s Marcia Holm.

“This includes a R30 million effluent water project which should – if the treated water proves suitable – be able to supply the PetroSA plant with all its needs, which are equivalent to the needs of the rest of the town.”

“This would ease the pressure on the Wolwedans Dam, which is our main raw water supply,” she said.

Aside from imposing punitive rates on households that consume more than 20 kilolitres per month (a reasonable amount for the average household), the municipality has also imposed restrictions on the use of hosepipes and irrigation systems, and limited the number of hours per week during which watering may take place, and is investigating various innovative engineering solutions – including the removal of exotic black wattles from the Moordkuil River (which feeds the Klipheuwel dam) because of their high water uptake.

“The aim is to achieve a 30% saving through water restrictions,” said Ms. Holm, “but that should in no way affect the holidaymakers’ enjoyment of the town.”

Ms. Holm said that rumours about the water situation were irresponsible and untrue.

“The ATKV at Hartenbos, the country’s biggest self-catering resort, will be operating normally this summer, as will the municipal caravan parks at De Bakke, Santos and The Point, and the only reason we’ll have to turn anyone away is if our accommodation establishments are full,” she said.

“As far as the 2010 World Cup is concerned, we are confident that the Municipal engineers will have found a medium-term solution to the challenges that we expect to face.

“Mossel Bay has agreed to host the Paraguayan National Team, and we’re hoping that this will attract as many as 10,000 fans to the town during the tournament.

“But this is considerably less than the number of visitors we receive during an average summer season, so there should be no reason for speculation about our ability to provide our 2010 visitors with the services they expect.

“Still, the reality is that the Eden Region – and therefore the Mossel Bay Municipal area – has been declared a disaster area as a result of the current drought, which is severe indeed, so we’re calling on everyone to ‘Spaar water! Yonga amanzi! Save Water!’,” said Ms. Holm.

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