Mpumalanga water levels keeps dropping despite some rain
Water levels in the listed dams and catchment areas in the Mpumalanga Province continue to drop despite some rainfall over the past few days.
According to the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) weekly state of reservoirs report of 02 November 2020, the average water levels in the listed dams in the Mpumalanga Province further dropped from last week’s 64.9% to 64.2% meaning there is 1630.2 cubic meters of water out of the required 2538.6 cubic meters. In as much as the water levels continue to drop in the listed dams in the Mpumalanga Province, the current situation is better than the 57.2% recorded during the same period last year.
The water management areas (WMA) also continue to record declines in water volumes, with the Olifants WMA dropping from 60.6% to 59.6% and the Inkomati-Usuthu WMA dropping from 61.5% to 60.8%.
In the Ehlanzeni District, only Klipkopjes Dam recorded a slight increase from 12.0% to 12.3% and the rest of the listed dams dropped in water volumes. Blyderivierpoort Dam dropped from 86.8% to 85.5%, Buffelskloof Dam dropped from 55.1% to 51.6%, Driekoppies Dam dropped from 71.2% to 70.5%, Longmere Dam dropped from 54.5% to 50.7%, Witklip Dam dropped from 63.0% to 61.8%, Primkop Dam dropped from 88.0% to 79.0%, Kwena Dam dropped from 42.9% to 41.1%, Da Gama Dam dropped from 51.4% to 50.1%, Inyaka Dam dropped from 50.7% to 50.3% and Ohrigstad Dam dropped from 9.0% to 8.6%.
All the listed dams in the Gert Sibande District continued their decline in water volumes. Grootdraai Dam declined from 76.0% to 75.6%, Nooitgedacht Dam declined from 82.0% to 81.5%, Vygeboom Dam dropped from 79.3% to 78.5%, Jericho Dam dropped from 65.0% to 63.8%, Westoe Dam dropped from 30.3% to 30.2%, Morgenstond Dam dropped from 41.9% to 41.3% and the Heyshope Dam recorded a decline from 68.5% to 68.2%.
The critically low Rhenosterkop Dam recorded the only improvement in the Nkangala District, increasing from 0.7% to 1.0%. Witbank Dam recorded a further drop from 90.3% to 89.5%, Middelburg Dam dropped from 81.3% to 80.4% and Loskop Dam dropped from 93.4% to 91.9%.
DWS further urges the public and communities to continue using the available water sparingly and in a more conservative manner to ensure water security as South Africa is a water scarce country and water levels continue to drop despite some rainfall.
For more information, contact Sputnik Ratau;
Spokesperson for the Department of Water and Sanitation
082 874 2942
Themba Khoza
066 301 6962
