The levels of the Vaal Dam remain stable this week as the national dam levels continue to drop marginally week-on-week.
Continuing to remain at safely stable levels, the Vaal Dam slightly dropped from 87.9% last week to 87.0% this week. The present levels are higher when compared to the 37.1% at which the dam stood during this week last year.
As the Vaal Dam shows stability, the Grootdraai Dam remains comfortable as it stands at 78.9 % this week, after a minor fall from last week’s 79.3%.
It is pleasing to see the levels of the Sterkfontein Dam, which is a reserve dam for the Integrated Vaal River System (IVRS), remains convincingly higher this week at 100.7 %. This level is much higher compared to the 94.0% at which the dam stood at the same period last year. This week’s levels of the dam are a bit higher from last week’s 100.6%.
The Bloemhof Dam has seen a decline this week, dropping from 105.2% to 105.0% this week. Although the fall is undesirable, the dam remains firm and in an even better state compared to the 95.4% it recorded in the comparative period last year.
The Mohale and Katse dams in Lesotho continued to drop this week. With the Mohale Dam plunging hovering around the levels of 30.8%, its situation is dire and concerning. The dam dropped from last week’s equally low levels of 31.2% while at the same time last year it stood at 5.4% which was far much worse.
Compared to the Mohale Dam, the Katse Dam is still relatively better. The dam now stands at 65.0%, and down from last week’s 65.5 %. However, present levels of the dam are notches up from last year during the same period when it hovered at 26.3%.
The Integrated Vaal River System (IVRS) persists to withstand the pressure brought about by the decline of some major dams within itself. This week, the IVRS fell from 84.0% to 83.7%, a sign that the system continues to fall weekly as expected due to the dry winter season just past, but remains fairly stable. During the corresponding period last year, the system floated at 59.7%.
Source: Government of South Africa