Civil Engineering May 2022 | Vol 30 No 4

Civil Engineering May 2022 7 Le t ter from the ed i tor H eavy rainfall in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) has wreaked havoc in what KZN Premier Sihle Zikalala has called, “the greatest disaster in the life of our country.” At the end of April around 7 000 people remained in shelters after severe floods destroyed homes, businesses and infrastruc- ture, and claimed over 400 lives. A water and sanitation crisis ensued, and Transnet was forced to suspend operations at Durban Port – which handles 60% of the country’s shipments – after the port was left virtually inaccessible. With Cabinet having declared a National State of Disaster, assess- ment of the damage has begun, and the cost of repairs runs into the billions. The effects of the disaster on the delivery of essential services are undoubtedly colossal and will be felt for some time to come. A few hundred kilometres away, and Nelson Mandela Bay is facing the opposite end of the spectrum, dealing with the disas- trous impact of a years-long drought. Denise van Huyssteen, CEO of the Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber, has warned that Nelson is fast running out of water and, with no significant rains currently projected for the area, there is a high risk that 40% of the city will have no water by the end of May. DROUGHT CRISIS Despite numerous ongoing requests for residents and businesses in Nelson Mandela Bay to save water, consumption has remained consistently high over the past few months, with daily consump- tion levels tracking at 280 Mℓ/day. Phase 3 of the Nooitgedacht Water Scheme was aimed at al- leviating the situation. After lengthy delays in its implementation (originally scheduled for June 2021), the water augmentation project began delivering water on 31 March 2022. However, van Huyssteen warns that the Phase 3 project completion milestone “is not the silver bullet everyone thinks it is”. “Reticulating water from the Nooitgedacht scheme throughout the municipal areas is wholly reliant on pumpstation operations. However, the drought has pushed operations to its limits, where stand-by pumps are in use as duty pumps. In recent months, there have been several failures in pumpstation infrastructure and outages are therefore now more likely as the system has been under severe strain for months,” she notes. She went on to warn that even after all pumpstations are com- plete and operational (including the KwaNobuhle pumpstation whose implementation has been delayed to the end of June), water consumption needs to reduce to 230 Mℓ/day, which is all that will be available until significant rain replenishes local dams. Given the current situation, van Huyssteen argues that dry taps are inevitable, and she expects both the Kouga and Kromme systems serving the metro to run dry. This also creates a poten- tial sanitation risk, as 40% less water going into treatment works could create high risk of blockages. DEALING WITH DISASTER Given how widely publicised Cape Town’s brush with Day Zero was, it is alarming that the situation in Nelson Mandela Bay has not garnered more attention. While droughts and floods are not new to South Africa, it would appear that climate change is truly exacerbating these events. Given the scale of the disasters that have and continue to unfold in KZN and the Eastern Cape, it is more important than ever that South Africa begins to plan for how to deal with and mitigate climate related events. Unfortunately, it is the poorest and most vulnerable com- munities that tend to suffer most when these disasters strike. And while there is no way to prevent climate disasters, we can be better prepared for them. This starts with ensuring that effective early warning systems are in place, as well as plans for the temporary evacu- ation of people and property from threatened locations to ensure a timely and effective response. Government can adapt land-use plans to long-term climate risks, ensure better land management, inclusive development and poverty reduction, as well as build resilience into new infrastructure assets. For engineers, planning for future resilience and exploring the use of green infrastructure is now imperative. Danielle Petterson Editor: Civil Engineering danielle@saice.org.za Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink Droughts and floods are not uncommon to South Africa, but some of the country’s cities and provinces are dealing with the fallout of the extreme ends of each spectrum. Scenes of destruction in KwaZulu-Natal and warnings of dry taps in Nelson Mandela Bay are a major cause for concern and should be prompting officials to more carefully consider future disaster planning.