NIEU-BETHESDA NEWS - The lifeblood of Nieu-Bethesda lies in its spring which feeds the village and has never run dry in historical times. 

The veld on farms surrounding the village is burnt dry by the unrelenting heat. 

There has been almost no precipitation since October. 

Talk around tables is of drought and feeding stock, barren gardens and deep concern.  The lack of rain affects Karoo people on a profound level.

Farmers in the area are worried. 

On Compassberg, Brenda James speaks of fountains running dry that have never done so in her lifetime.  She says that those drilling for water usually find it at 30 meters down, now drilling rigs have to bore to more than 66 meters.

Brenda says that it has never been this bad - there is no lawn, no irrigation for fodder on the lands.  In Nieu-Bethesda troops of baboons have made their way from the high koptjies into the village where they search for water in reservoirs and sloots. 

Due to a lack of food in the veld, the pear trees have been stripped of their bounty, still unripe.  On Zuurplaats, Kevin Watermeyer says that his spring has dropped from a capacity of 80 000 litres per hour, to 5000 litres.  There is no doubt that our underground water has been severely depleted. 

On Doornberg, Peet van Heerden's irrigation spring is running at 20% of its normal capacity.  His house water and other springs have dried up, and boreholes also run dry with pumping.  Peet says, "2 of our 6 boreholes are dry and we cannot pump from there.

Normally we produce 5 000 bales of lucerne a year, this year we barely have enough for our own use." 

All lactating cows are struggling and reports of losses are being reported.

Farmer, Ian North, says, "Even the weeds are dead."  Hanna van Heerden, a long-time resident of the Karoo mentions that she has seen worst droughts foodwise, but that this is the worst "water drought" that she has seen and lived through in the last 40 years.  The Gats river on Riverdene is totally void of running water. 

In the village itself, people seem to be lulled into a false sense of security by the fact that the spring water that runs through the village continues to flow.  If one looks closely at the sloot that diverts the water into the village, it is evident that the water is running at a diminished level, even before it gets used by the village. 

Peet van Heerden says, "Charles Graham and I personally measured the spring in Bethesda, the weekend of 16 December 2018, as a lot of people have been mentioning the lower capacity of water. It was measured in 2016 at a rate of 360 000 litres per hour and this year we measured it at about 120 000 litres per hour. It is running at only one third of its normal capacity!"

With an increase in people moving into the village, and a general increase in the population of Nieu-Bethesda, boreholes are being drilled.  A third of the spring water is skimmed off and piped to a reservoir which serves the village with municipal water.

People living in the village for over 20 years have noticed a marked change in the water from these wells.  Water that was once sweet and potable has become sulphurous and highly mineralised. 

An added frustration is the fact that due to a lack of rain, there is no food available for the increasing flocks of goats and herds of horses that roam freely in the village.  While these animals belong to a mere handful of people, the entire village is being eaten bare as they move through the village in droves, eating everything in their path.  A fence or a wall is no match for a goat, which scales such infrastructure with ease.  The 'Adopt a Tree' project in the village is under constant attack as thousands of rands worth of fencing that was lovingly donated and erected around the trees, has been pushed down and the trees consumed.   

While the police respond to complaints and do their best to herd animals out of lands where gates have been opened and animals let in, without a pound or vehicles to remove the offending animals, it is difficult.

A spokesperson for the Dutch Reformed Church says, "This is an ongoing issue as all our plants in the church yard has also being eaten by these roaming goats/animals. There is no regard for fences as we have seen people with these animals in the church yard before, almost not caring and definitely not keen on stopping them breaking through the fences."

During times of drought, our fragile ecosystems are affected profoundly.  It is imperative that cognisance is taken of such matters and that residents become water conscious, cutting down on usage and conserving that which we are blessed with in Nieu-Bethesda.

Goats invade the village and nothing is impervious to their appetite.

The veld is tinder dry in the Sneeuberg vicinity.

Police try in vain to remove stock from private property - there is no pound in the village to keep them if caught. 'We bring you the latest Nieu-Bethesda, Karoo news'