Media Release: GRDM assists Knysna Municipality with water for the Buffalo Bay residents

For immediate release
05 September 2025

Last week, the Garden Route District Municipality (GRDM) Disaster Management Centre received a request from Knysna Municipality to assist with the tankering of water to residents of the Buffalo Bay area.

“The need for water developed due to the high salinity levels in the Goukamma River at the point of abstraction, about 10 kilometres up-stream from the sea,” said Gerhard Otto, Manager for Disaster Management at GRDM.  Otto explained: “These high salinity levels were a result of the combination of the following:

• The river mouth being closed.
• There has been very little rain for an extended period of time, therefore very little run-off reached the river from the river catchment area; and
• Due to evaporation, the salinity of the water in the river increases day-by-day”.

The GRDM Disaster Management and Firefighting teams immediately dispatched the 10 000-litre water tanker to Sedgefield where the tanker was filled and then used to transport water to the main reservoir in Buffalo Bay. The operation was supported by a fleet of three additional tankers; two rented by Knysna Municipality from private service providers, and one made available by the Central Karoo District Municipality.

Due to the lengthy process to fill-up the tankers in Sedgefield, the GRDM reinforced the fleet with an additional 6,000-litre tanker to improve turnaround times.

While assisting in Knysna, a fire broke out in Albertinia, requiring the temporary diversion of the GRDM firefighters who had been driving the tankers. From Monday, 1 September 2025, however, the GRDM team resumed daily water deliveries to Buffalo Bay.

The GRDM is aware that the tankering of water is only a temporary solution and that the only short-term solution would be to do an emergency breaching of the Goukamma River Mouth. This process, however, does not reflect in the current Management Plan of this system,” said Otto. He added: “GRDM is in ongoing discussions with CapeNature – we received confirmation from Cape Nature that a special emergency breaching committee meeting will be scheduled for Tuesday next week, where all the latest data will be assessed to decide on a way forward”

ENDS