Pretoria - The Department of Water and Sanitation has urged communities and businesses to strictly follow water saving measures as dam levels across the country continue to drop due to the drought.
The department reported on Wednesday that the national storage of 211 dams are now at 49% and still dropping, but at a slower pace than at this time last year.
“The Vaal Dam level is at an average of 26.6% and water levels in Western Cape dams are dropping. Dams dropped by 3%,” the department said.
The Vaal System, which supplies water to 14 dams as well as to Sasol and Eskom, dropped from 49.9% from 17 October 2016 to 49.7% this week. The system was at 68.8% in 2015.
The Orange River System, which was 55.6% last week, is now at 54.4%. Gariep Dam dropped from 55.7% to 51.8%, while Vanderkloof Dam experienced a rise from 55.4% to 58.7%, compared to 71.6% this time last year.
Some dams in Western Cape continue to drop with Voelvlei dropping from 71.8% to 71.3%, while Berg River gained a little from 72.7% to 73.1%. Theewaterskloof went down from 52% to 51.6%.
“The Algoa System, with five dams serving Nelson Mandela Bay, has recorded a drop from 70.1% to 69.3%, compared to 100.2% last year. Amatola System, with six dams serving Buffalo City, dropped from 78% to 77.2%, compared to 99.5% last year.
“The Umgeni System, with five dams serving eThekwini and Msunduzi, dropped from 44.2% to 44.1%, compared to 66.2% last year. Nagle Dam was at 69.9% last week and now stands at 69.7%, while Midmar Dam gained a little from 47.3% to 47.7%,” the department said.
Hazelmere Dam gained from 64.9% to 66% and Pongolapoort is still the same at 37.2%.
Goedertrouw is still at 20.8%, while the Klipfontein dropped slightly from 11.8% to 11.4%.
In Bloemfontein, the system gained slightly from 31.2% to 34%. – SAnews.gov.za
