The temporary shutdown of the supply from Lesotho is not the problem
There is sufficient water for Johannesburg's needs despite fears around the maintenance shutdown of the supply from Lesotho.
The stoppage comes amidst ongoing water provision issues in South Africa's urban highveld, which draws water from the LHWP via the Vaal Dam.
"The standard operating rule is that Sterkfontein Dam releases water to the Vaal Dam when the Vaal Dam reaches a level below 18%. The Sterkfontein Dam is currently full and will be used to top up the Vaal Dam should the need arise," said Mathebula. The term Day Zero - referring to the day on which municipal water would be largely shut off due to supply shortages - was used by Western Cape authorities during the water crisis of 2015-2020 to galvanise people to use water sparingly. There is no official Day Zero campaign for Johannesburg but the term has been seized on by some.
"The Vaal Dam is the most important impoundment in that system because it is from here that Rand Water abstracts water for treatment, but it is only one part of the very big system that the DWS manages, in which water can be transferred from one part of the system to another, as and when required," he said.
"It wasn't long before the water that naturally enters the Vaal dam was not sufficient to meet the demands of the industrialising highveld. It was for this reason that two major"inter-basin" water transfer schemes were developed, capable of feeding water into the Vaal's main feeder rivers from catchments hundreds of kilometres to the south," Tempelhoff said.
The other scheme is the LHWP, which impounds the water from several catchments in Lesotho in two large reservoirs called Mohale and Katse.
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