Maputo and Matola may face water supply restrictions again

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Maputo and Matola may face water supply restrictions again

3:19 CAT | 15 Jan 2018

Water supply in Maputo and Matola will be reduced by up to 60 percent if rainfall continues to be below normal in the southern region, the National Direction of Water Resources Management has announced.

“At the end of the rainy season [in April], we will evaluate the amount of water available and possibly reduce the water supply to the population by up to 60 percent,” daily newspaper Notícias quotes spokesman Agostinho Vilanculos as saying.

Water storage levels have dropped by 10 percent in recent weeks, and forecasts by the National Institute of Meteorology show that rainfall in some parts of Maputo will remain below normal.

“If the scenario does not change, we will have no alternative but to increase restrictions on the supply of water for electricity production, as well as for agriculture, and prioritize supplying the population,” he added.

The Pequenos Libombos dam, 50 kilometres from Maputo, which was built between 1983 and 1987, is the only source of water for the Umbelúzi Water Treatment Station.

The cities of Maputo and Matola have already experienced restrictions on water supply recently due to the drought that affected the south of the country between the end of 2016 and the beginning of 2017.

At the time, the Pequenos Libombos dam, with 400 million cubic meters water storage capacity, was only 25 percent full.

Source: Lusa