IVRS remains strong despite decline over weeks
The Integrated Vaal River System (IVRS) remains in an impressive state, with its level way above the neutral 50% mark despite declining week on week lately.
The system has recorded a marginal decline from 83.7% last week to 83.2% this week, going down by 0.5%.
The system is the biggest in the country and is the pillar that props up the economy of Gauteng, the economic hub of the country. It is also responsible for supplying water to the critical industries of Eskom and Sasol.
Last year during the same period, the system was at 59.1%.
The decline in the system has been influenced by variations over the weeks in some of its major dams as the inland provinces came to the end of the dry winter season.
The Vaal Dam has decreased from 87.0% last week to 85.8% this week – recording a fall by 1,2%. Compared with its situation at the same time last year, the dam is still healthier as then it was sitting at 36.0%.
The Grootdraai Dam recorded a slight decrease, moving to 78.9% this week from 78.1% last week. The dam has declined by 0.8%. Last year during the same period, the Grootdraai Dam still hovered comfortably at 78.1%.
In the catchment of the Maluti Mountains in Lesotho, Katse Dam this week is sitting at 64.6%, while last week it was at 65.0%. The dam has decreased by 0.4%, this is still a lot better than the wretched level of last year at the same period, when it was at an insignificant 25.6%.
The Sterkfontein Dam, which provided a lifeline to Gauteng when the levels of the Vaal Dam took a serious knock at the height of an ugly drought, is currently at 100.7%. Judged against last year’s levels at the same period, the dam is currently much better as then it stood at 94.0%. This reserve dam for the IVRS must always be above 90% of capacity.
The Mohale Dam, also in the Mountain Kingdom of Lesotho, has failed to notch up to decent levels, consistently dropping. This week was not different as the dam went down from 30.8 % last week to 30.6% this week. This decline though not good for the IVRS, is still at the levels that are higher than last year’s at the same time when the dam was sitting at 5.0%.
The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) wishes to thank both the public and industries benefiting from the Integrated Vaal River System for using water sparingly – reiterating that if it were not for their cooperation, the situation could have been different.
For more information, contact:
Sputnik Ratau
Cell: 082 874 2942
Khulekani Ngcobo
Cell: 082 723 6030
