BITOU WATER RISK ASSESSMENT AND ACTION PLANNING WORKSHOP

In December of last year we recognised the need for a more comprehensive water security plan. We met with the management team responsible for water and constructed a robust set of actions that required urgent implementation. Despite multiple follow-ups with Bitou, we do not believe sufficient attention has been placed on these critical issues. It is time for Bitou to start working collaboratively with community expertise

BITOU WATER RISK ASSESSMENT AND ACTION PLANNING WORKSHOP

Background

This workshop was attended by Victor Felton and Eddie Oosthuizen from Bitou with Bill Alexander, Peter Pyke, Stuart Comline and myself, from RPA .

The intent was to discuss at a high level the state of water supply, storage, infrastructure and resources for Bitou - the major threats and risks that Bitou faces as well as potential actions that should be fast tracked in the short, medium and long term.

The workshop did not delve in the specific statistics which were available to us, but we relied upon the insights and knowledge that the various members had acquired from the multitude of reports and analyses conducted over the years.

We have a strong base to work from

• our abstraction from the weir at Keurbooms is excellent and the pump station is operating well
• the quality of raw water from the Keurbooms is excellent and does not suffer from upstream settlements
• our treatment plant delivers excellent quality water and we maintain our Blue Drop status
• our balancing reservoirs work well
• there is a new high lift pump station serving Kwano and New Horizons
• our testing regime is excellent and above minimal standards
• our service, repair and maintenance teams are dedicated and committed
• the necessary senior engineering skills exist

The burning platform - our case for urgent intervention

In the absence of any meaningful storage capability or secondary sources of water, Bitou’s bulk water supply (Keurbooms) is unlikely to adequately meet the needs of a rapidly growing population. Migration and property development is placing strain on our current infrastructure which has suffered from inadequate investment, replacement and maintenance over the years.

80% of our water supply comes from the Keurbooms River.  Our license conditions are that we have to stop drawing from the river when the flow rate falls below 300L/s, which is does almost every year towards the end of summer.  If Water Affairs were to enforce the is restriction we would lose 80% of our water supply overnight.

The Roodefontein dam which shares water with the Jakkalsfontein properties, is not well managed in terms of back-up storage from Keurbooms, monitoring and measuring off take. This dam would only serve Bitou for ca. 7 to 10 days at peak demand in the event of a prolonged drought. Its current value is to secure short term water supply when pumps and infrastructure need maintenance.  The details governing the license for our use of the water has also not been finalized over the years and this needs to be sorted out urgently.

Our desalination plant can provide up to 10% of our water requirements but not for an extended time period. It is a high maintenance/high cost backup source

The boreholes, those that are operational and not vandalized, are also not a secure source of water due to quality issues in the main.

Other factors that exacerbate this tenuous situation are;

• plans for a significant storage dam (Wadrift) are not being pursued with urgency
• no clear plan for upgrading bulk water infrastructure exists
• the engineering department is significantly understaffed (estimates R30m)
• no brake on proposed new developments, increasing demand
• funding shortfalls, declining MIG grants
• political agendas at odds with required investment priorities
• poor water regulation policies
• tariff structures not reflective of pressure on water system
• lack of community awareness of reliance of single source of water (Keurbooms), with extremely limited storage capacity
• high water losses estimated at 25%+
• No emergency action plan exists to mitigate the effects of the sudden loss of supply from Keurbooms which makes up 80% of our supply capacity

In summary, in the face of uncontrolled population growth and property development, our security of bulk water supply is at significant risk. Limiting the growth in low and medium cost housing developments is at odds with the political agenda. Similarly bulk water and distribution infrastructure does not receive sufficient investment allocations. Any drought of significance would have a dramatic affect on all businesses and communities High Level Action Plans

BULK WATER SUPPLY, INFRASTRUCTURE AND RESOURCE	Impact
Complete west Bitou demand and supply analysis to determine limitations and bottlenecks	High
Treat Wadrift Dam SLA as a strategic priority	High
Develop coherent strategy for property development based on infrastructure and bulk water supply. Limit size of developments and moratorium on development	High
Update our drought policy. Currently based on Roodefontein levels which are irrelevant. Develop punitive tariff system	Med
Revise new borehole strategy and complete cost/benefit analysis	High
Comprehensive analysis of water losses, ensure all water meters are updated, ensure universal billing and collection and systematically replace water distribution network	High
Review feed from Keurbooms into Roodefontein dam to maintain capacity - monitor inflows and outflows and renegotiate allocations and abstraction	High
Review tariff structures. They currently do not motivate for better water management and saving	Med
Develop a PR campaign designed to heighten community awareness on need for water conservation	Med
Town planning to mandate rain water harvesting for new developments, through bylaws	Med
Develop an emergency plan to mitigate the effect of losing the Keurbooms supply capacity	High
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Review new organizational requirements for Engineering department and address gaps	High
Update skills and competencies across key positions to ensure recruitment meets requirements	Med
Council approval to ‘capacitate’ engineering department as a matter of urgency	High
Review IDP to determine essential investment on infrastructure	High
Upgrade HR team to focus on engineering recruitment	Low
Strengthen capability of articulating business cases for investment in infrastructure with cost/benefit analyses	Med

 Conclusion

Based on our discussions water security needs to be put on top of the priority list for Bitou Municipality. Water security is critical for public health, driving economic development, environmental sustainability and promoting social equity. Strategic planning, investment in infrastructure as well as better community engagement are critical components of an effective water security strategy.

Substantial analysis and reports have been completed on the state of Bitou bulk water supply and infrastructure. There is substantial knowledge and experience in the Engineering department. This knowledge however has not been articulated in clear strategies to mitigate poor flows from the Keurbooms or extended drought conditions.

Next Steps

To present to council and administration and get support for these initiatives

RPA stands ready to participate in future workshops and offer any assistance in planning and technical competencies, as may be required.