Torrential rains in the Western Cape make a difference in water levels 

The recent rains that soaked most parts of Western Cape have boasted the national water storage, a weekly report on state of reservoirs in the country issued by the Department of Water and Sanitation has shown.

The volume of water stored in the country’s reservoirs has shot up a bit, increasing from 83.1% last week to 83.5% this week.

According to the Departmental Spokesperson, Mr Sputnik Ratau, Western Cape is the only province that has seen a considerable increase in dam levels this week and the rest of the provinces saw marginal declines. He attributed this to the fact that Western Cape receives its rains in winter while other provinces get soaked in summer.

“It is for this reason that we saw the provincial water storage in western Cape shooting up to 67.8% this week, a huge improvement from last week’s 55.1%. It is also a great improvement from last year’s water levels which stood at 46.1% during this time. Cape Town Water Supply Systems with dams supplying water the City of Cape Town has seen a drastic improvement moving up to 90.0% this week from last week’s 75.2%”, he explained.  
Ratau has however appealed to water users in Western Cape to avoid being carried away by the increase in dam levels, instead, they should conserve water as much as they can to ensure water security in the province.  

North West province has seen a slight decrease in level of dams, dropping to 80.4% this week compared to last week’s 80.8%. The province’s dam levels were at 70.2% last year at this time.  Klipvoor Dam is at its full capacity at 100.7%. Bospoort and Buffelspoort Dams remain unchanged at their full capacity this week. They are at 101.0% and 100.1% respectively.

Mpumalanga dam levels have slightly decreased to 84.4% this week, compared to last week’s 84.7%. Westoe Dam in Usutu river has decreased from last week’s 73.7% to 72.2% this week. The province’s Nooigedacht and Vygeboom dams are at their highest levels at 94.5% and 99.3%, a slight decline from last week’s 94.9% and 99.9% respectively. Kwena Dam is still at its full capacity with 100.0%.  Longmere Dam has seen an increase with 96.9% this week, a huge improvement from last week’s 90.6%.  

Water levels in Limpopo have also declined, recording 85.3% this week compared to last week’s 85.6%. Flag Boshielo Dam has dropped from last week’s 89.8% to 88.8% this week. In Mopani Region, a critically low Middel-Letaba Dam continue to drop to 9.2% compared to last week’s 9.4%. Tzaneen dam has decrease to 99.8% this week from last week’s 100.1%. The biggest dam in Limpopo, De Hoop is at 98.1%  

The drought stricken Eastern Cape continues to go on a downward spiral in its water levels. The provincial water storage is at 50.7% this week, a decline from last week’s 51.1%. The Algoa Water Supply System with dams supplying the Nelson Mandela Bay area is at a very low 10.7% this week.

Late last week, the Department delivered 100 water tanks and 10 water tankers in Nelson Mandela Bay as part of its immediate interventions.

In Gauteng, dam levels have remained steady at 97.7% this week.

Free State dam levels have dropped from last week’s 96.4% to 96.0% this week. Fika Patso Dam, which supplies the residents of Phuthaditjhaba in QwaQwa, has dropped from last week’s 86.8% to 85.5% this week. This is however a great improvement from last year’s 42.0% at this time. Free State’s biggest dam, Gariep, has also dropped from last week’s 93.7% to 92.9% this week.  

Northern Cape dams have also dropped this week to 88.0% compared to 89.2% last week.

Source: Government of South Africa