CAPE TOWN (Business Day) -- The government has approved the R7,3bn second phase of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project as part of its strategy to ensure a continued supply of water for the Vaal River system.
The Vaal system is the most critical in South Africa (SA) , feeding its economic heart in Gauteng and supplying water as far as to electricity power stations in Mpumalanga. It is estimated that the Vaal sustains about 60% of the economy.
Water Affairs and Forestry Minister Lindiwe Hendricks, making the announcement after a cabinet briefing yesterday, said there were two potential sources of additional water for the Vaal - continued extraction from the Thukela River, or the Lesotho Highlands phase 2.
Hendricks said as part of the government's efforts to ensure more water was available for the Vaal River system, the cabinet had approved a major new water infrastructure project - implementation of phase two of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project.
The project is subject to the signing of a protocol with the Lesotho government. It would include construction of the Polihali Dam in Lesotho and was a strategic intervention to ensure the water security of Gauteng and the rest of the Vaal River water supply area in the most cost-effective manner, the minister said.
"The construction of this dam and other infrastructure will take place alongside water conservation measures in the Vaal, improving water quality and curbing of illegal water use," she said.
Hendricks said the Vaal was the most important water resource in SA as it supplied water to 60% of the country's economy, to 45% of the population, to the whole of Gauteng and Northern Cape, and to mines and industries on the Mpumalanga highveld. It also supplied the bulk of water to Eskom's coal-fired power stations on the western Mpumalanga highveld, gold fields in North West and Free State, and agricultural users in Gauteng, North West, Free State and Northern Cape, as well as feeding the strategic coal-to-liquid facilities on the coal fields of the highveld.
She said urban areas in Gauteng continued to grow rapidly and their water requirements were set to increase 30% in the next 20 years, meaning that strategies to meet this demand had to be put in place.
Hendricks said illegal users of water in the Vaal system were in her department's sights. These were mostly farmers who diverted water on to their properties and then pumped "24/7". Mines were also guilty of illegal use.
Through enforcement and savings, her department intended to reduce losses in the system by 15%.
Hendricks said the Lesotho project was chosen as the preferred option for augmenting the Vaal system for several reasons. One was that it has a low energy requirement: water can be transferred under gravity to SA without pumping, unlike the energy-intensive Tugela option, which has to pump water from the Thukela River over the escarpment.
"Furthermore, the existing hydropower generation capacity of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project phase 1 can also be increased. The project would bring substantial benefits to Lesotho as well as a regional benefit, as it will mean the prevention of increased carbon emissions ," he said.
