Pretoria - The public has been encouraged to use water sparingly as dam levels drop across the country owing to the approaching winter season, when there is minimal rainfall.
The Department of Water and Sanitation says dam levels are on a continual down-swing compared to the same period last week.
Department spokesperson Sputnik Ratau issued a statement that the overall storage capacity of the country’s water level was sitting at 94.4%, a slight decrease from last week’s 95.4%, and a significant improvement from last year’s 84.7%.
The Integrated Vaal River System recorded a tiny enhancement from 102.1% last week to 102.4% this week.
He said the worrying news was that Algoa, Bloemfontein, Amathole, Orange, Cape Town, Polokwane, Luvuvhu and Umgeni water supply systems had all declined week on week.
Ratau said that there were improved water levels at Umhlathuze, Klipplaat, and Crocodile West, whereas Butterworth and Crocodile East were steady and unmoved at 100.1% and 100.6%, respectively.
“Seven out of nine provinces have recorded reduction in water levels.
“The Free State, for example, moved down from 105.2% to 103.4%, while Gauteng recorded a reduction from 102.0% last week to 101.5%.
“On the other hand, KwaZulu-Natal dropped from 93.0% last week to 92.0% this week, while Limpopo dropped slightly from 89.1% to 88.8%.” Ratau said the Northern Cape plummeted from 112.1% to 110.9%, the North West dwindled from 80.1% last week to 78.5% this week, and the Western Cape lessened from 53.9% to 53.4%.
Ratau said the only province which had marginally escalated in water levels was the Eastern Cape, increasing from 67.1% to 67.2%.
“Mpumalanga is fixed and unchanged week on week at 95.3%. Vaal and Grootdraai Dams, which are part of the IVRS (Integrated Vaal River System) have slightly dropped from 107.1% to 106.5% and 102.6% to 102.2%. Both Gariep and Vanderkloof Dams, which are part of the Orange River water supply system, have recorded declines from 106.0.% and 106.9% to 101.6% and 105.2% respectively,” he said.
In the flood-hit KwaZulu Natal, Albert Falls Dam, an integral part of the Umgeni water supply system, which supplies water to eThekwini Metro and surrounding areas, dropped from 101.7% to 101.0%.
“Midmar is also part of Umgeni and it moved down moderately from 100.7% last week to 100.6% this week. Kouga Dam, which is part of the Algoa Water Supply System, is critically low at 12.9%, moving further down from last week’s 13.1%.”
Roodeplaat Dam which is a component of Crocodile West supplied by Pienaars River, has decreased from 101.0% last week to 100.7% week on week. The Western Cape is a combination of parts that experience rainfall in winter and those that receive rainfall during other seasons; the Berg River dropped from 68.6% last week to 67.9%, and Clanwilliam Dam was a cause for concern at 31.4% from 32.6% last week.
Ratau said: “The Department of Water and Sanitation pleads with the public to utilise water with caution as winter is upon us which normally has minimal amounts of rainfall.”
Pretoria News