Water Dept assures it has enough reserves during LHWP tunnel maintenance

JOHANNESBURG - The national water department said that it had enough reserves to ensure supply was not affected during the six-month shutdown of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) tunnel.

The tunnels are due to be shut down on Tuesday for intensive maintenance that is scheduled to be completed by next March.

Lesotho provides a substantial amount of water to South Africa, which goes to the country’s largest bulk supplier, Rand Water.

The water department said that the Lesotho Highlands Water Project tunnel supplied 700 million cubic meters of water a year to two of South Africa's dams.

The department said that 780 million cubic meters of water had already been transferred to the country’s dams to make up the shortfall during the six-month shutdown.

Department spokesperson, Mandla Mathebula, said that all contingencies had been taken to ensure there was minimal disruption during this period.

"We have the integrated Vaal River system, which consists of 14 interconnected systems including the Vaal, Sterkfontein, Grootdraai and Bloemhof dams and this system is augmented by the Katse and Mohale dams in Lesotho. Our assessment shows it has enough water for the duration of the maintenance period and will maintain water supply for the next six months."

The department is urging residents to use water sparingly.