The Department and Water and Sanitation opened two sluice gates at the Vaal Dam on Monday, 17 January.
Three gates from the five that had been opened previously had been closed, however, due to the continued rain in the catchments feeding the Vaal-Orange River System and the Integrated Vaal River System there has been an increased in inflows.
One gate opened at 10:00 with the second one opening at Midday.
To manage and protect infrastructure the department took a decision to keep a total of four gates open for now.
The Dam – which supplies most of Gauteng - stood at 108,5% this morn.
Bloemhof Dam is at 109.0 % full and the dam level increased over the past 24 hours.
The department’s spokesperson Sputnik Ratau warns downstream communities about the imminent increase of outflow from the dams and a rise in the Vaal River.
“Farmers are asked to remove equipment that may be damaged due to the outflow. This is also a warning for communities to ensure that children are not swimming near the stream.
“The department will continue to monitor the volumes, but the sluice gates will remain open until further notice,” Ratau said.
For more information, contact Sputnik Ratau, spokesperson for the Department of Water and Sanitation on 082 874 2942
