It appears things are so dry in Gauteng that bottled water from Franschhoek was served a meeting of all nine water board representatives in the country with Minister of Water and Sanitation Nomvula Mokonyane. In fact‚ the situation is dire: Mokonyane said strict measures were on the cards to reduce Gauteng’s water usage by 15% through the municipalities. She was speaking at a media briefing after a meeting with the nine chairs of all water boards at a hotel in Kempton Park‚ Johannesburg‚ on Friday afternoon.The purpose of the meeting was to assess drought interventions‚ the implementation of water restrictions and the management and implementation of major water and sanitation infrastructure projects."Where we are now‚ we find ourselves facing a major challenge here in Gauteng. Not because there is no water here in Gauteng but because there is no proper management of the water that is available for people and businesses‚" said Mokonyane.Mokonyane said it would be up to each municipality to distribute water evenly to the residents in their area‚ take the issue of maintenance of infrastructure seriously. She said as per the back to basics programme‚ municipalities have to put 14% of their budget into infrastructure to prevent the loss of water.She added that“we cannot run away from making sure that we build capacity that is reliable at local government level".Municipalities also have to know how to enforce bylaws and stricter measures in terms of compliance. This means municipalities have to ensure residents are told how use water sparingly.The City of Ekurhuleni and Mogale City have already planned to have heavy penalties‚ restricted water flows‚ the replacement of ageing water infrastructure and a quicker turnaround of repair times on leaks.Dams are at a critical level and the overuse of water "has caused a lot of strain on the Vaal River system that is supposed to supply water to the people of Gauteng"‚ she said.At the same time preparations are in place to begin releasing water from the Sterkfontein Dam into the Vaal Dam‚ which has only 26% of usable water.If this drops much more‚ it will clog up the dam's infrastructure‚ Mokonyane warned.South Africa received its lowest rainfall since 1904‚ with extremely high temperature experienced in October and November of 2015.This has severely affected the country's water supplies: the national average of dam levels is 48.4%‚ compared with the same time last year when levels were at 66%.Mokonyane said task teams are being set up to monitor the implementation of water restrictions in the country...