LETABA WATERGEBRUIKERSVERENIGING
LETABA WATER USER ASSOCIATION
LIMPOPO PROVINCE
PRESENTATION – 12 OCTOBER 2005
PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON WATER AFFAIRS AND FORESTRY
The Letaba Water User Association has been in existence since 1998 following the conversion of the Great Letaba Main Irrigation Board which was created in 1960.
The Irrigation Board represented three climate zones stretching from the wet mountainous zone above the town of Tzaneen, the intermediate zone at the foot of the escarpment and the drier third zone stretching to the western border of the Kruger National Park. Tzaneen town council had one representative and after a prolonged battle with the then Ministry of Water Affairs observer representation was granted to the then National State of Gazankulu and the Kruger National Park. The Board had deemed it essential that all role players should sit around one table to take decisions on the management of the water supply.
At the time of the conversion to a Water User Association the Greater Tzaneen Municipality declined to continue its association, but the irrigators within the National State are an integral part of the Association and the Kruger National Park still partisipate as an observer.
The Management Committee is made up of 14 members representing irrigators in all climate zones of which three are representatives of the old National State entitlements.
Irrigation entitlements can be summarised as follows:
A. From Ebenezer dam 12,989 Million Cubic Metres
B. From Tzaneen dam 105,028 Million Cubic Metres
Of the latter (B) 29,83% belongs to the State / Department of Land Affairs and is available to new entrants to irrigation agriculture. Most of these entitlements are under utilized at present.
Land claims in terms of restitution legislation have been submitted or gazetted which if purchased by the State will raise this percentage to nearly 70%.
Previously disadvantage persons already have access to a sizable percentage of irrigation entitlements and this is bound to grow.
Other Annual entitlement from the Letaba catchment can be summarised as follows.
Exports to Polokwane 18,0 Million Cubic Metres
Greater Tzaneen Municipality
Including Nkowankowa, Nwamitwa and others 15,5 Million Cubic Metres
Industrial and Mining 3.3 Million Cubic Metres
Total 51,5 Million Cubic Metres
This brings total current annual entitlements to 168,500 million cubic metres which outstrips the assured drafts of the three major dams in the catchment by 50 million cubic meters per annum.
It follows that drought cycles have serious consequences for mainly the irrigation community. During the 1992-1994 drought, irrigation was completely curtailed. With Ebenezer dam at 18.08% and Tzaneen dam at 7.88 % of their capacity the position is currently as serious as during the previous drought. If dormant entitlements were to be activated as is the intention of the Limpopo Department of Agriculture the position will become even more serious.
Irrigation agriculture along the Letaba River is concentrated around permanent tree crops namely citrus, avocadoes, mangoes and litchis. All these are export orientated industries earning over a billion rand in foreign exchange annually. Vegetables and bananas for the South African market are smaller crops in the area.
Following requests during 1983 by the then Irrigation Board the Department of Water Affairs undertook a major study of the catchment which culminated in a feasibility study of a fourth major dam – the Nwamitwa dam.
The volume of water which can still be impounded will result in an additional 53 million cubic meters of assured draft which will eliminate the current shortfall as described above.
The Water Users Association apart from serving all irrigation farmers (including the previously disadvantaged) is concentrating on stabilising the supply position for all (including primary consumers and the Kruger National Park) by relentlessly promoting the building of the Nwamitwa dam.