Use water sparingly as Mpumalanga water levels continue to drop
The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) urges the public to be more conservative and use the available water more wisely and sparingly as water levels continue to drop in the listed dams and catchment areas in the Mpumalanga Province, especially as it is still the dry winter season.
The DWS weekly state of reservoirs report of 10 August 2020 shows that the average water in the listed dams in the Mpumalanga Province dropped from last week’s 70.7% to 70.2% which simply means that there is currently 1783.1 cubic meters of water out of the full capacity requirement of 2538.6 cubic meters. The water levels are still much stable above the 70% mark and still much better than the same period last year when the average water volume stood at 67.8%.
The report also shows that water levels in the catchment areas also continue to decline with the Olifants water management area (WMA) dropping from last week’s 65.7% to 65.2% and the Inkomati-Usuthu WMA dropping from 67.6% to 67.2%.
The Primkop and Kwena dams in the Ehlanzeni District are the only dams that recorded some improvement in water levels despite the continuous drop in water levels in the Mpumalanga Province. Primkop Dam increased from 86.5% to 89.6% and Kwena Dam increased from 54.2% to 54.4%. The other dams in the Ehlanzeni District continued to drop with only Da Gama Dam remaining unchanged at 55.4%. Continuing on the decline mode, Buffelskloof Dam dropped from 71.9% to 70.8%, Blyderivierpoort Dam dropped from 92.4% to 89.3%, Driekoppies Dam dropped from 73.4% to 72.9%, Longmere Dam dropped from 66.4% to 63.2%, Klipkopjes Dam dropped from 13.2% to 12.8%, Witklip Dam dropped from 72.4% to 71.2%, Inyaka Dam dropped from 53.6% to 53.1% and Ohrigstad Dam dropped from 12.2% to 11.8%.
The majority of the listed dams in the Gert Sibande District continued to decline except for the Morgenstond Dam which remained unchanged at 45.6%. Grootdraai Dam dropped from 80.9% to 80.6%, Nooitgedacht Dam dropped from 86.5% to 86.3%, Vygeboom Dam dropped from 93.6% to 92.2%, Jericho Dam dropped from 77.8% to 77.5%, Westoe Dam dropped from 37.5% to 35.7% and Heyshope Dam dropped from 74.5% to 74.1%.
The Middelburg Dam is the only dam that recorded no changes in the Nkangala District, remaining unchanged at 90.0%. Witbank Dam dropped from 97.1% to 96.7%, Loskop Dam dropped from 100.1% to 99.9% and Rhenosterkop Dam dropped from 1.8% to 1.7%.
The Department commends all the responsible water users in the Mpumalanga Province for their efforts in using the available water wisely and sparingly in the midst of the coronavirus and would like to encourage them to continue with their water conservation initiatives for water security as South Africa is a water-scarce country.
For more information, contact:
Sputnik Ratau
Spokesperson for the Department of Water and Sanitation
Cell: 082 874 2942
Themba Khoza
Cell: 066 301 6962
