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The Garden Route Dam showing visibly receding water levels as George experiences limited rainfall.
Supplied/George Municipality
- George has become the latest Garden Route town to tighten water restrictions ahead of the festive season.
- The main dam’s levels have dropped to 47%, prompting the municipality to move from level 2B to stricter level 2C restrictions.
- Households are now limited to 15kl per month, businesses must cut usage by 25%, and industry, by 15%.
George has become the latest Garden Route town to tighten water restrictions ahead of the holiday season after the municipality’s main dam’s levels dropped to 47%.
The council approved the move at a special sitting last week, shifting the town from level 2B to level 2C restrictions as water supply pressure intensifies.
Councillor Donovan Gultig, mayoral committee member for civil engineering services, informed the council that despite ongoing appeals, water consumption remained high and non-compliance was on the rise.
“Below-normal rainfall has placed the city’s water supply under significant pressure,” he added.
Under level 2C, all previous restrictions remain in place, and:
- Emergency tariffs will be introduced after the public participation process closes on 19 December.
- Households are limited to 15kl per month.
- Businesses and entertainment venues must cut usage by 25%, based on their six-month average.
- Industry must reduce use by 15%.
- Flow-reducing devices may be installed for non-compliant users (except indigent households).
- No hosing of structures, roofs or paved surfaces with municipal water is allowed.
- Car washes may not use hosepipes unless using non-potable or alternative water sources.
- Irrigation of sports fields using potable water will be prohibited once the dam reaches 25% capacity.
- Public swimming pools may not be topped up with potable water at that level.
- Additional maintenance teams have been deployed to accelerate leak repairs as part of intensified monitoring.
Mayor Browen Johnson said voluntary reductions were no longer enough.
“We are entering a critical period. The dam is dropping by up to 2% per week, and seasonal demand will further strain the system. I urge every resident, business and visitor to use water sparingly.”
Knysna is also facing a potentially dry festive season as the Akkerkloof Dam, the town’s primary water source, dropped to around 27%, triggering level 4 restrictions.
Water experts, engineers and senior officials from the national and provincial government visited the town this week as the crisis escalated. Their assessment will determine whether Knysna’s water shortage should be formally declared a disaster.
Cape Town issues early drought warning
Cape Town, meanwhile, has issued an early drought caution due to lower dam levels – roughly 15% lower than last year – and increasingly unpredictable rainfall. Although the City is not facing an immediate crisis, residents and businesses have been urged to help keep water use below 975 million litres per day (MLD) to avoid future restrictions.
READ | High-level government team races to Knysna as town edges toward water disaster
Mayoral committee member for water and sanitation Zahid Badroodien said the early warning was a necessary step.
“It is responsible to call on Cape Town to work towards using less than 975 MLD collectively over the next few months to reduce the risk of restrictions into 2027.”
National government to intervene
The Department of Water and Sanitation is this week expected to announce how it will assist vulnerable towns along the Garden Route and the West Coast, where falling dam levels and minimal rainfall have raised concerns about water security heading into the holiday peak period.
