The Knysna Municipality is considering punitive tariffs to curb wasteful water usage as the situation has reached critical levels, with reserves down to less than 20 days at the current consumption rate. The municipality has described the situation as “dire”, with Knysna’s main reserve facility, Akkerkloof Dam, at a critical level of 34 percent and the Glebe Dam at under 5 percent, meaning it can no longer supply the system.

Knysna’s consumption target for the greater municipality was eight megalitres of water per day and currently it stood at more than 12.8 megalitres per day. In Sedgefield the target is 1.9 megalitres, while the current consumption is 2.4 megalitres. Knysna Municipality mayor Georlene Wolmarans said: “Unless all Knysna residents start working together, we run the risk that our taps will run dry within the next couple of months. We have reached the point where we need to implement desperate measures to avert disaster.”