By Carin Scheepers:

After taking a drive up the road to the #Kouga Dam this past weekend, we had the opportunity to meet #Drought face-to-face. And it was damn scary – if you would excuse the pun. In fact, it was nauseating to realise how deep (sorry, again?) in the dwang we are in this little Eastern Cape corner of #South_Africa. It felt like we were visiting a terminally-ill relative in hospital. The water was eerily still and grey as we were experiencing yet another uncharacteristically warm day for this time of year. The Dam seemed as if it was on its last legs, so-to-say…. It has resigned itself to its fate.

We have been fortunate enough to see the water spilling over this same dam wall not even 2 years ago. We had so much rain that our back roads were flooded for weeks on end. It was glorious.

Now, the dam level sits at a disturbing 20%. It is hard to comprehend what the implications are, until you are standing on the dam wall again and trying to do the Math. You guestimate how many acres of land have to watered here in the Valley and then you start figuring out the litres of water that still has to then pump through all the way to #Port_Elizabeth and surrounds for the millions of folk in the Metro. Yes, Houston, we do actually have a problem!!!

Please take the guys in charge seriously – we all have to do our part. Whether you farm or work in a factory, implement #water_saving measures now.  That old cliché, “Every drop counts,” is yet again very relevant. We take things for granted – think it is our ‘right’ – and then there comes a little reality-check.

South Africa is ranked as the 30th driest country in the world, so realistically our drought problem will always be around. In the meantime, we are praying for the miracle of rain – and some forward-planning from the authorities, so that our water-supply can be better managed in the future.

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