Rainfall boost dam storage capacity as average national water levels demonstrate a slight rise
The Department of Water and Sanitation's weekly status of reservoirs illustrates that the country's water levels have increased marginally when compared to the same period last week. This due to the recent rainfall experienced in most parts of the country in the past week.
This week, the overall storage capacity of the country's water level sits at 93.6%, a slight improvement from last week's 93.3%, and also a tiny drop from last year's 94.1%.
The majority of the country's Water Supply Systems have recorded increment in water levels week on week although systems such as Crocodile East and Umhlathuze remain on the same levels as that of last week with the former at 100.6% and the latter at 100.2%.
The Integrated Vaal River System (IVRS) which supplies a number of provinces dropped further from 101.2% to 100.7, Umgeni in KwaZulu-Natal has declined from 101.0% to 100.8%, Polokwane Water Supply System decreased from 101.0% to 100.6%, Luvuvhu in the far north of Limpopo diminished faintly from 101.7% to 101.4%, and lastly on the downward movement side is the Crocodile West lowering from 94.5% to 93.6%.
Water Supply Systems that have expanded in water levels are; Algoa with dams in the drought-stricken Nelson Mandela Bay rose slightly from 13.0% to 13.2%, Amathole enlarged marginally from 101.4% to 101.5%, Bloemfontein grew from 98.6% to 99.5%, Butterworth elevated from 99.9% to 100.0%, Klipplaat gained from 100.3% to 100.4% and Cape Town also increased from 55.1% to 58.9%.
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The overall provincial water storage indicates that five (05) provinces have recorded downwards movements in water levels namely, KwaZulu-Natal slightly dropped from 90.7% to 90.2%, Limpopo from 89.8% to 89.5%, Mpumalanga from 99.5% to 99.3%, Northern Cape 94.2% to 93.0% and North West also dropped from 87.3% to 86.9%.
Free State increased from 99.4% to 100.0%, Western Cape improved from 48.8% to 51.5%. Gauteng is unchanged at 100.3%, and Eastern Cape is also unmoved at 78.2%.
In as far as major dams in the country are concerned, Vaal Dam which is part of the IVRS has recorded a decrease with the slightest of margins, this week it has declined to 102.0% from last week's 102.5%, Bloemhof which also part of IVRS has slightly decreased from 102.2% to 106.6%, Gariep Dam which is part of Orange River Water Supply System has recorded an increment from 95.3% to 98.6%, Vanderkloof Dam moved down slightly from 100.1 to 98.5%.
While the country is not facing any immediate challenges in terms of water security as most dams remain above capacity, the Department continues to call on water users to utilise the available water sparingly since we are heading for the dry winter season where rainfall is expected to be minimal if any.
