DURBAN and Pietermaritzburg are at risk of severe water shortages in the next two years, Water and Environment Affairs Minister Buyelwa Sonjica said yesterday.

DURBAN and Pietermaritzburg are at risk of severe water shortages in the next two years, Water and Environment Affairs Minister Buyelwa Sonjica said yesterday.

"A recently completed water reconciliation strategy study has shown that supply from the Umgeni River is already stressed by the rapid economic growth in the eThekwini and Msunduzi municipalities and areas on the immediate north and south coast," said Sonjica at a provincial water summit in Durban.

She said water supply in the eThekwini municipality, which incorporates Durban, and the Msunduzi municipality, which incorporates Pietermaritzburg, was at risk until the completion of the Spring Grove Dam, to be constructed in Mooi River in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands.

"These areas will be at risk until the completion of the dam in 2012."

Sonjica said the situation would be managed through water supply restrictions. - Sapa