Farmers at the Hardap Irrigation Scheme are worried about the critically low levels of the Hardap Dam due to poor rainfall in the area.

They say if the dry conditions continue, it may have an adverse impact on the irrigation scheme that relies on water for production.

Dawie De Klerk, Chairperson of the Hardap Farmers Association, says the Hardap Dam levels have dropped to below 20%. 

He cautions that without inflow into the dam, full irrigation will only be allowed up to the first or second week of April this year.

"If the Hardap Dam will receive no inflow this coming rainfall that is starting or commencing at approximately the first week of February, every March, and up until mid- or end of April, we've got a big concern about the scheme because the socio-economic impact will be astronomical to the whole town and business system of the Hardap and Mariental communities, and most probably if they receive water this year, the producers will have to lay off people, which will be inevitable."

De Klerk partly attributes the problem to a moratorium the government put in place to reduce the dam's storage capacity to not more than 70% and to prevent both an overflow and an uncontrolled outflow through fully opened sluices.

He suggests that the government lift the moratorium.

"I think the state that we are finding ourselves in at the moment can be traced back to a decision after the 2006 flood, where upon there was a 70% moratorium placed by the government on the capacity of the Hardap dam. If the moratorium were not there, we would have had approximately 30% more water in the dam at the moment, which would result in an additional year of full irrigation. I think it is detrimental to the whole economic system regarding the Hardap that 70% will be maintained, and I think that now is obviously the right time to address this issue very seriously with Cabinet, NamWater, and Cabinet to lift the moratorium."

De Klerk says there is no imminent threat to potable water supplies, explaining that water could still be extracted with submersible pumps if the dam level drops to below five percent. 

The dam also supplies Mariental residents with potable water.