No water from Lesotho to Gauteng for 60 days
Municipalities in Gauteng have called on residents to use water sparingly due to shortage of water coming from Lesotho.
A planned shutdown of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) tunnel system is underway while inspection and maintenance will take place until the 30th of November.
The maintenance kicked off on the 1st of November.
The system is the primary source of water for the the Vaal River system from where water is pumped to Gauteng areas.
The City of Johannesburg's Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Environment and Infrastructure Services Department, Nico de Jager, is calling on residents to adhere to the current level-1 water restrictions.
"So, currently the only water that we have to supply our Joburg residents and Gauteng residents over the next 2 months is water that is currently in the dam at 55%, as well as water that is transferred from the Sterkfontein Dam which is essentially a reservoir," says De Jager.
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De Jager maintains that inspection and maintance are part of the normal procedure and there is nothing at fault with the Highland Tunnel system.