South Africa’s dam levels are beginning to drop, but the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) says the country will have enough water to get through the dry winter season.
“Although the general average of South Africa’s dams has begun a small decline, figures show that the majority of the dams have sufficient water to ascertain the country through the looming dry winter until subsequent summer rains, provided water users stick with their water-saving practices within the next six months,” the department said.
According to the department’s most recent weekly report on dam levels, the average for South African dams this week is 86 percent, down marginally from last week’s 86.1 percent. On a year-over-year basis, the average remains higher than the 67.4 percent reported during the same timeframe in 2020. Because of heavy downpours that hit large parts of the country beginning in February this year, the majority of dams have between average and maximum capacity of water in reserve to be used in the coming months, according to the survey.
The rains aided the Free State in breaking its previous year’s dam level record by 20 percent, reaching a whopping 99.7% this week. The province is home to a number of the country’s most powerful dams, which have a greater capacity to hold water for longer periods than other water storage facilities.
According to news, water levels in the Northern Cape and Gauteng are overflowing this week, at 101.5 percent and 100.3 percent, respectively. Mpumalanga dams, supplemented by the Inkomati-Usuthu Management Area (IUMA) within the Lowveld, are at 88.7% this week, up 13% from last year’s estimate. Dam levels in KwaZulu-Natal have risen by a minimum of 13%, from 60.9 percent last year to 73.2 percent this week. In Zululand, the Pongola-Mtavuna Management Area has also increased from the previous year, and some towns in the Umkhanyakude District are reportedly having difficulty accessing potable water.
“Some local residents have resorted to drilling boreholes, while others believe water that’s tankered by Madibeng District Municipality,” the department said. While dam levels in the Western Cape have risen by 12% relative to the same time last year, they have also been on the decline, with 51.6 percent reported in the week. When the winter rains begin to fall at the end of May, the province’s dams are expected to expand, according to the department.
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The Western Cape Water Supply System (WCWSS) is at 70.9 percent, up from 56.1 percent last year at this time. Water restrictions implemented in Nelson Mandela Bay. The water situation has been described as dire, especially in the Mandela Bay region of the Eastern Cape, where dams have reached rock bottom. As a result, the municipality has imposed water restrictions in order to conserve the limited water available in the city. “There may be a need for urgent measures to be taken to rescue things and make sure that water users still receive this very necessary resource,” the department said.
Data source: South African Government News Agency