Recent rains improve water levels in the listed dams in the Ehlanzeni District
The recent rainfall has a positive impact on the majority of the listed dams in the Ehlanzeni District of the Mpumalanga Province. The latest Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) weekly state of reservoirs report of 12 October 2020 shows that in the Ehlanzeni District, only the Longmere Dam recorded a decline in water volumes dropping from 50.6% to 49.3% and the Ohrigstad Dam remained unchanged at 9.1%.
The rest of the listed dams in the Ehlanzeni District recorded improvements in water volumes. The Blyderivierpoort Dam increased from 75.0% to 82.7%, Buffelskloof Dam from 52.5% to 54.7%, Driekoppies Dam from 71.2% to 72.0%, Klipkopjes Dam from 10.7% to 12.3%, Witklip Dam from 62.8% to 63.6%, Primkop Dam from 81.3% to 88.4%, Kwena Dam from 43.7% to 43.8%, Da Gama Dam from 48.8% to 50.7% and Inyaka Dam recorded an improvement from 49.3% to 50.8%.
The report also shows that on average, water levels in the listed dams in the Mpumalanga Province increased from 65.3% to 65.5% over the week. This means that there is 1663.8 cubic meters of water in storage out of the required 2538.6 cubic meters. The average dam levels are still better than the same period last year when the levels stood at 60.4%.
The DWS report also shows that there is no improvement in the water management areas (WMA), with the Olifants WMA dropping from last week’s 60.6% to 60.3% and the Inkomati- Usuthu WMA remaining unchanged at 62.4%.
In light of the slight improvement in most listed dams in the Ehlanzeni District, DWS would like to reiterate the importance of water conservation and encourage the public to continue using water wisely and sparingly as we are still a long way to seeing our dams overflowing. Water conservation must always be the norm as South Africa is a water scarce country.
For more information, contact:
Sputnik Ratau, Spokesperson for the Department of Water and Sanitation
082 874 2942
Themba Khoza
066 301 6962
