Pretoria – The Department of Water and Sanitation says while the current rainfalls are having a slight impact on the country’s dam levels, this is a far cry from last year’s records.
The country’s dam levels increased from 53.5% last week to 53.7% on Wednesday following the current rainfall. However, in the same month last year, the levels stood at 79.5%.
According to a report compiled by the department’s forecasters, the outlook for the next two to three months is still very bleak, with below average rainfall expected through to May and above normal temperatures until winter.
“We can expect a recurrence of the relatively good rain showers over North West, Free State and KwaZulu-Natal. We could also still experience isolated heavy rain and thundershowers,” the forecasters said.
The forecasters also noted that the El Niño is showing signs of decay and expecting it to be “towards near neutral in the winter”. The report said that all provinces, with the exception of Western Cape and Free State, showed a slight increase in average dam levels over the last week.
“North West has increased from 46.4% to 51.1%, a 4.7% increase week-on-week. The Western Cape at 36.6% remains an area for concern. However, it must be borne in mind that it is the dams in the winter rainfall area which are low,” the report said.
Lesotho’s Katse Dam is now at 65.7%, an increase of 1.9% from the previous week. Hazelmere in KwaZulu-Natal has also increased to 34.3% compared with 33.2% last week.
However, the report noted that there will be no change to restrictions from the Hazelmere Dam. The department has recommended a 15% restriction on the Umgeni system.
“Vaal Dam has dropped from 48.6% last week to 48%. Sterkfontein Dam is at 88.3%, an increase of 0.2%. Gariep Dam has dropped by 0.7% and is now standing at 52.6%.
“The decrease is largely due to Eskom generating power at the dam. The Voelvlei Dam in Western Cape followed suit with a 1.4% to 20.8%,” the report said.
It said the continuing prediction of lower than normal rainfall over the next three months would mean that the recovery rate could still stretch beyond three years. – SAnews.gov.za
