|
Water Demand in the Basin: Urban and Rural Consumption:
Upper Orange-Senqu River Basin |
In Lesotho, urban usage is mainly domestic, and supply relies heavily on direct river extraction and groundwater. In recent years, the rapid economic development in the Lesotho lowlands, and the associated increase in urban and peri-urban populations and commercial/industrial activities, has placed increasing pressure on the existing water supply and sewerage facilities. In districts other than the Maseru district, 70–100 % of the population lives in rural areas.
In the South African portion of the Upper Orange basin, the bulk of the urban requirements of the Upper Orange Water Management Area (WMA) are from the Bloemfontein and Botshabelo areas. Towns in the Water Management Area are supplied by Bloem Water or have allocations from nearby large inter-basin transfer schemes. Other towns are located close to the main river or have access to water from upstream storage dams.
Table 1: Year 2000 urban water requirements in the Upper Orange Water Management Area.
|
Sub-Area |
Urban Population |
Domestic (direct) |
Indirect |
Urban losses |
Total |
|
Urban per capita domestic |
Urban return flow |
|
Mm³/a |
l/c/d* |
% |
||||||
|
Senqu |
0 |
1,6 |
0,0 |
0,5 |
2,1 |
|
na |
0 |
|
Caledon Lesotho |
0 |
15,1 |
0,8 |
5,9 |
21,8 |
|
na |
10 |
|
Caledon RSA |
50 235 |
2,3 |
0,9 |
1,1 |
4,3 |
|
125 |
38 |
|
Kraai |
81 360 |
2,9 |
1,5 |
1,2 |
5,6 |
|
98 |
0 |
|
Riet/Modder |
786 434 |
37,7 |
20,4 |
28,5 |
86,6 |
|
131 |
38 |
|
Vanderkloof |
60 050 |
2,7 |
1,2 |
1,5 |
5,4 |
|
125 |
0 |
|
Total |
978 079 |
62,3 |
24,8 |
38,7 |
125,8 |
|
175 |
29 |
l/c/d = litres per capita, per day
Source: DWAF 2003a
Table 2: Year 2000 rural water requirements in the Upper Orange Water Management Area.
|
Sub-Area |
Rural Population |
Domestic |
Stock watering |
Total |
Rural human |
|
Mm³/a |
l/c/d* |
||||
|
Senqu |
0 |
0,8 |
12,0 |
12,8 |
23 |
|
Caledon Lesotho |
0 |
2,4 |
3,6 |
6,0 |
33 |
|
Caledon RSA |
535 155 |
5,2 |
8,2 |
13,4 |
27 |
|
Kraai |
619 413 |
5,7 |
7,0 |
12,7 |
25 |
|
Riet/Modder |
65 876 |
0,6 |
9,7 |
10,3 |
25 |
|
Vanderkloof |
19 468 |
0,6 |
9,7 |
10,3 |
25 |
|
Total |
1 236 912 |
14,9 |
45,3 |
60,2 |
33 |
Source: DWAF 2003a
