South Africa urgently needs a well-funded institute to research water demand management, local civil engineers are warning. "Without proper research, our water supplies could run out soon," Professor Pieter Pansegruow, professor of civil engineering at Port Elizabeth's Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, said.
The professor wants to see agriculture using more water conservation techniques but said it was unfair to target only agriculture. He also singled out local authorities which were doing little or nothing to make urban dwellers aware of water saving strategies and criticised the general lack of coordination of water supply management in South Africa and the lack of government commitment to research and policy making.
Two winters of well below average rainfall have been followed by a long, unusually hot summer in the country and reservoirs are at record low levels. Over the last 12 years, farmers in the Western Cape have had seven of the hottest years on record.
So far export fruit quality for this season has not suffered as growers use efficient dripper or spitter irrigation systems and specialist water needs prediction modelling.
Crop thinning has been rigorous and average fruit size for apples is predicted to be optimum for export. This contrasts with 2003 when size was too big in general and 2004 when it was rather on the small side.
Another consequence of the weather is an unusually early start to picking of some varieties. The first Golden Delicious were being loaded into cold stores in the last week of February: 10 days ahead of the earliest date most growers could remember.
The main worry now is the effect of this difficult season on apple, pear and plum trees as return bud may have been compromised by water stress and high summer temperatures and warm winters have given the trees little rest time.
