Latest on Status of Water in NC
The Northern Cape Province is the driest province in South Africa with an average annual rainfall of about 200 mm. The scarcity of water resources is a defining feature of this arid environment and behavioural change in water consumption will contribute immensely towards improving the water situation.
The full storage capacity of the Northern Cape is only 147.3 million m3 and currently the water storage level is at 127.8 million m3 or 86.7%. Dams in the Orange and Vaal Rivers upstream are both above 75%. It indicates sufficient water for the season and year as the Northern Cape is dependent on upstream dams like the Katse, Gariep and Vanderkloof in the Orange River and Grootdraai, Vaal and Bloemhof in the Vaal River.
The Douglas Storage Weir in the Vaal River is at 17.969 million m3 or 110.6%. The full supply capacity of the Weir is 16.245 million m3. Boegoeberg Dam in the Orange River is at 21.576 million m3 or 104.7%, Spitskop Dam in the Harts River is at 58.884 million m3 or 101.8% and the Vaalharts Weir is at 29.362 million m3 or 57.9%.
With good late summer rains in some of the eastern and northern parts of the province, groundwater resources are expected to be recharged. The south and west of the province are still extremely dry and under drought conditions. The situation is currently addressed through the Drought Intervention Program.
Provision of water supply infrastructure is at full capacity in major towns of the province like Kimberley, Upington, Postmasburg, Kathu and Kuruman. The DWS however warns that the migration of people to these areas will increase water shortages when summer approaches in a few months.
The Karee Dam, the only municipal storage dam in the Northern Cape and serving the town of Calvinia, is currently empty.
There is a total of 439 towns and settlements in the Northern Cape with 316 of them dependent on groundwater. The towns and settlements that are dependent on groundwater, account for approximately 40% of the households. 114 are using surface water and only 9 towns and settlements are using both surface and underground water.
Enquiries:
Sputnik Ratau, Spokesperson for the Department of Water and Sanitation
Cell: 082 874 2942
Amogelang Moholoeng
Cell: 082 653 1682
