South Africa’s water reservoirs last week improved marginally following intermittent rainfall.

The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) says that the overall national storage capacity of the country’s reservoirs improved to 94.7% last week, from 94.1% in the preceding week.

This is an increase from the 92.8% reported in the same week last year.

According to the department’s weekly state of water reservoirs report, six provinces recorded improvements in water levels, namely KwaZulu-Natal from 87.6% to 91.4%, Eastern Cape from 77.3% to 78.5%, Limpopo from 87% to 87.2%, Mpumalanga from 97% to 97.4%, Northern Cape from 99.0% to 100% and the North West from 84.8% to 86.9%.

Provinces that have recorded downward movements are Western Cape, which decreased marginally from 60.9% to 59.6%, Gauteng from 101.8% to 101.5% and the Free State slightly down from 101.2% to 101.1%.

The Integrated Vaal River System (IVRS), comprising 14 dams across four provinces, increased marginally to 100.8% last week, from 100.5% in the preceding week.

“Some of the water supply systems that have expanded are Bloemfontein from 99.7% to 100.2%, Amathole from 101.7% to 103.3%, Butterworth from 100.1% to 100.4%, Klipplaat moved up from 100.2% to 100.5%, Luvuvhu gained from 100.6% to 100.9%, both Crocodile East and West experienced increments from 101.3% to 101.6% and 95.3% to 98.7% respectively,” the DWS said in an update.

Meanwhile, Cape Town’s water supply system recorded a decline in water levels from 68.9% to 67.1% during the week under review, as some parts experience rainfall during winter season.

Other water supply systems that decreased last week include Umhlathuze, which decreased from 100.5% to 100.4%, Polokwane from 106.6% to 105.3% and Orange from 101.2% to 101%. Umgeni remained unchanged at 104.4%.

The Algoa water supply system in the Eastern Cape, with dams supplying water to Nelson Mandela Bay metropolitan, continues to be a cause for concern after it recorded another week-on-week decrease from 15.1% to 14.9%.

Gariep dam, South Africa's largest dam, recorded a marginal decrease from 99.5% to 99.4%.

Sterkfontein dam, a reserve dam within IVRS, is at 101%, a marginal decline from 101.1%, while the Vaal dam improved from 102.5% to 102.6%.