the kouga crisis

article by howard champ

While the majority of agricultural areas have enjoyed an average year in terms of rainfall there are parts of the Eastern Cape that have suffered and continue to suffer in silence from a prolonged drought. Traditionally the Gamtoos valley and Patensie area are focused on citrus being one of South Africa’s biggest export markets. A large percentage of these growers also incorporate vegetables as a fast and efficient cash crop which in turn, contributes significantly to the local vegetable market. For example: broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and lettuce to mention a few. At Nuvance we are proud to say that we have amongst other suppliers been a major player in supporting these growers in this industry.

These farmers also rely heavily on supply dams like the Kouga dam, situated 21km west of Patensie for their demanding irrigational needs. Despite the Kouga dam drawing its reserves from an impressive 388 700 ha catchment area, it has a holding capacity of 133 000 000m³ and in May 2021 it was at 4,23% of its total volume. This made me realise the full impact on the local farmers operations after hearing one client mention that he had not had any meaningful rainfall since June 2020. Its often hard to relate to what these farmers are dealing with when it comes to water supply, even as I live a ’stones throw’ away in Port Elizabeth which is situated in the Coastal-Rain belt. But that’s just what it is …a ’belt’ but as city dwellers in the Nelson Mendela Metro, we also rely on the ’catchment’ areas like Kouga for our potable water.