The recent rain that soaked most parts of the country in the last few weeks has seen a much-needed uptick in the national water levels. According to the state of reservoirs report issued by the Department of Water and Sanitation early this week, the water stored in country’s reservoirs increased to 89.8% this week, from last week’s 86.2%. however, this is down from 94.3% recorded during the corresponding period last year.
Generally, most of the provinces experienced an increase in water volumes this week, with the exception of Gauteng and Western Cape who experienced a decline of 0.4% and 1.2% respectively. Despite some downpours in Gauteng, the province’s water levels decreased to 85.9% this week, from 86.3 last week. This is a significant drop compared to the same period last year when water levels were at 101.8%. Western Cape dropped to 82.3% this week, down from 83.5% last week. This is an improvement compared to the same period last year when the levels were at 61.2%.
The rest of the other provinces experienced increase in water levels.
- Limpopo to 81.7 this week from 78.8% last week
- Mpumalanga from 92.5% last week to 95.4% this week
- North West from 79.9% last week to 80.1% this week
- Northern Cape to 81.5% this week from 80.8% last week
- Eastern Cape to 84.7% this week from 84.2% last week
- KwaZulu-Natal from 82.3% last week to 84.2% this week
- Free State to 92% this week from 86.4% last week
The Department of Water and Sanitation acknowledges that there are some areas still experiencing acute water challenges in some parts of the country and concerted efforts are being undertaken to address inadequate water supply. Municipalities are being assisted with various grants such as Regional Bulk Infrastructure Grant and capacity to build, upgrade and refurbish water infrastructure to meet the demands of the communities they service.
In the past year, Minister Senzo Mchunu has engaged various stakeholders in efforts to unlock some of the challenges that hinder the implementation of infrastructure projects that will ensure consistent and reliable water supply to communities.
It is for this reason that the department continues to appeal to all water users to be circumspect in the way they consume water and remember that South Africa is a water-scarce country, therefore water conservation is of paramount importance.
Furthermore, the department appeals to communities to report vandalism of water infrastructure to law enforcement agencies as this is one of the contributing factors in water challenges experiences in some parts of the country.
For more information, contact
Andile Tshona, Acting Spokesperson for the Department of Water and Sanitation
Cell: 073 566 3345
E-mail: tshonaa@dws.gov.za.
