Unexpected winter rainfall boosts country’s dam levels
The overall outlook of national water levels improved slightly week on week. This increment is attributed to parts of Western Cape that experience rainfall in winter and the unexpected wet weather in other parts of the country recently. The weekly status of dam levels issued by the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) displays that the volume of water has marginally moved up from 93.1% last week to 93.3% this week, this is a significant difference from last year’s 83.3%.
The Integrated Vaal River System (IVRS) and Umgeni are the only Water Supply Systems that have experienced downward movements with the IVRS dropping slightly from 101.0% to 100.7% and the latter from 100.5% to 100.3% respectively.
Water Supply Systems that have experienced some sort of improvements are: Algoa Water Supply System escalated from 12.0% to 13.4%, Amathole moved up from 75.2% to 76.3%, Bloemfontein somewhat improved from 99.6% to 99.8%, Cape Town jumped from 70.8% to 72.5%, Crocodile West increased from 99.2% to 99.6%, Klipplaat improved from 100.2% to 100.3%, Luvuvhu gained from 100.9% to 101.1%, and Orange improved from 98.8% to 99.2%.
The following Water Supply Systems remain unchanged week on week; Polokwane 101.7%, UMhlathuze 100.2%, Crocodile East 100.3%, and Butterworth at 100.0%.
A total of six (06) provinces have recorded upwards movements in water levels namely; Free State moved up slightly from 100.7% to 100.8%, Gauteng recorded a slim increase from 100.2% to 100.8% , Limpopo expanded albeit marginally from 88.3% to 88.4%, Mpumalanga witnessed a tiny improvement from 95.1% to 95.2%, North West increased from 81.0% to 81.2%, and the most notable increment was in the Western Cape moving up from 56.8% to 59.1%.
The provinces that have experienced downward movements in latest levels are: Eastern Cape declining slightly from 70.3% to 70.2%, KwaZulu-Natal dropped marginally from 90.8% to 90.6% and Northern Cape decreased from 108.85 to 108.2%
Theewaterskloof Dam shot up from 72.3% last week to 73.9%, Berg River increased from 81.5% to 82.2%, and on the downward movements in as far as Western Cape is concerned is Kammanassie which is alarmingly low at 4.4% from last week’s 3.8%.
In Mpumalanga both Jericho and Nooitgedacht Dams which are part of the IVRS supplied by Mpama and Komati Rivers have improved from 99.4% and 100.4% to 100.2% and 100.9% respectively, and Kwena Dam which is part of Crocodile East Water Supply System is unmoved at 100.3%.
North West’s Hartbeespoort Dam in Crocodile West Water Supply System increased from 98.0% to 99.4% and Bospoort somewhat gained from 102.2% to 102.4%. Roodeplaat Dam which is the component of Crocodile West supplied by Pienaars River has moved down from 101.0% to 100.5%, and Vaalkop Dam declined from 92.9% to 91.9%.
Vaal Dam which is part of the IVRS has decreased from 105.9% to 105.1%, Gariep Dam which is part of Orange River Water Supply System has recorded a marginal increase from 98.6% to 99.4%, Vanderkloof Dam declined from 99.1% to 98.8% and Karee Dam in the Northern Cape sits at 28.1% from last week’s 17.9%.
KwaZulu-Natal’s Albert Falls Dam, an integral part of the Umgeni Water Supply System which supplies water to eThekwini Metro and surrounding areas declined from 99.8% to 99.5%, Midmar Dam which is also part of Umgeni WSS also decreased moderately from 100.0% last week to 99.6% this week, Woodstock which is on the Tugela River and is part of the IVRS is steady and unchanged at 101.2%.
Groendal Dam which is part of Algoa Water Supply System in the Eastern Cape is critically low at 21.5% moving slightly up from last week’s 21.3%, Kouga Dam which is part of the supply to the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan currently experiencing water supply challenges is alarmingly low at 14.1%, Nahoon Dam which forms part of Amathole Water Supply System has decreased from 96.8% to 96.2% this week.
De Hoop Dam which is the biggest dam in Limpopo is unchanged at 100.3%, Flag Boshielo Dam which is part of Polokwane Water Supply System is also unmoved at 102.2%, Nandoni Dam in the far north of Limpopo recorded a minor increase from 101.2% to 101.4% and Middel-Letaba is almost empty at 2.1% of capacity.
The Department of Water and Sanitation is reiterating its call directed at water users across the country to exercise maximum caution when utilising the available water.
For more information, contact Sputnik Ratau, Spokesperson for the Department of Water and Sanitation on 082 874 2942 / 066 151 0482
