Western Cape dam levels continue to rise

© Javier Tuana – 123RF.com

According to the dam levels report issued by the Department of Water and Sanitation on Wednesday, less rainfall in the past week has decreased South Africa’s dam levels by a fraction from 77.9 % last week to 77.5%.

In the Western Cape, however, winter rainfall has seen dam levels in the province continue to rise from 51% to 52.5% this week.

Theewaterskloof Dam, which is one of the main six dams that feed Cape Town, increased slightly from 42.0% to 43.1%. Clanwilliam Dam is at 99.95%, while Voelvlei is up from 59.9% to 63.3%.

However, the department maintained that the water restrictions would not be lifted soon, and urged residents to continue saving water.

“The department will only review the restriction at the end of the hydrological cycle next month,” the department said.

In Gauteng, the Vaal Dam is at 95.5%, while the Integrated Vaal River System (IVRS), consisting of 14 dams serving mainly Gauteng, Sasol and Eskom, decreased slightly from 83.9% to 83.5%. The system was at 79.3% during the same period last year.

EC dams remain low

In the Eastern Cape, dam levels continue to remain low. The Algoa System with five dams serving Nelson Mandela Bay increased slightly from 18.1% to 18.4%. Last year the system stood at 31.8%.

Kouga Dam has increased from 6.8% to 6.9% this week. Loerie increased from 71.5% to 96.0% and Groendal increased from 37.8% to 39.2%%.

The Amathole System, which has six dams that serve East London, decreased from 89.5% last week to 82.6% this week. Laing Dam has decreased slightly from 97 % to 96.7% this week.

In the North West, Ngotwane recorded 62.6%, while Hartebeespoort Dam is at 96.7%. Sehujwane Dam decreased from 83.1% to 82.8%.

In KwaZulu-Natal, the Umgeni Dam System, with five dams serving eThekwini and uMsunduzi in Pietermaritzburg, decreased by 1% from 73.4% to 72.9%. The system was at 58.3% in the same period last year.

Midmar Dam decreased by a fraction, from 94.8% to 94.7%, while Inanda Dam decreased slightly from 69.7% to 69.3%.

The Northern Cape has experienced an insignificant increase of 0.1%, from 88.6% to 88.7% this week. Spitskop Dam decreased slightly from 91.6% to 91.2%.

In Limpopo, the average dam levels decreased from 71.7% to 70.7%. Albasini decreased from 84.5% to 84.2%.

The average dam levels in Mpumalanga decreased by a fraction, from 78.7% to 78.2%, while Witbank remains at 99.3%, Middelburg at 97.6% and Buffelskloof at 79.1%.