Even though this year’s dam levels have improved drastically compared with two years ago, the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) on Wednesday urged water users in all provinces to continue with water-saving habits in order to have enough water to last through the anticipated dry months later this year.
With the exception of the Western Cape, South Africa’s rain season runs from November through to March. The Western Cape experiences winter rain from May through to August.
In approaching the end of the rainy season, South Africa’s dam levels have stabilised at 64.9%, a weekly report by the DWS indicated.
The report suggests that dam levels have increased from 63.2% last year to 64.2% this year.
Although the report paints a stable water situation across the country, with Gauteng’s dam levels at 99.6%, South Africa is not out of the woods yet, the DWS warned.
Notwithstanding a recent heatwave, recent rains have contributed to an increase in dam levels.
However, the Western Cape is the worst performing province, with levels having dropped to 40.6%.
The Theewaterskloof dam, which supplies Cape Town, has decreased from 41.9% to 40.9%. Although, this time last year, the dam was critically low at 10.6%.
The Cape Town Dams System, with six dams serving the Cape Town Metro, has decreased from 54% to 52.7%.
Gauteng is on the verge of reaching its capacity as its dam levels have increased from 98.4% to 99.6%.
The Vaal dam is at 70.8%, having decreased from 71.7% the week before.
These figures were welcome given the strategic economic importance of the Vaal dam in Gauteng, the DWS said in a statement.
Water levels in the Eastern Cape decreased to 60.1%, with the Algoa System, which has five dams serving Nelson Mandela Bay, decreasing to 46.9%.
Last year the system stood at a concerning 25.9%.
The Kouga dam has decreased to 46.9% this week. Groendal decreased to 55.4%, while the Loerie dam decreased to 41.7%. Around the same time last year, the Loerie dam was at a high of 82.5%.
Kromrivier is at 97% and Impofu decreased to 29.3%.
The Amathole System, which has six dams that serve East London, decreased from 65.1% last week to 64.7% this week.
In the North West, the Haartebeespoort dam decreased from 97.5% to 97.1%, and Sehujwane decreased by a fraction to 91%.
KwaZulu-Natal’s dam levels have increased from 59.5% last week to 59.9% this week.
The Umgeni Dam System, which boasts five dams that serve eThekwini and Msunduzi in Pietermaritzburg, increased to 65.3%.
The Northern Cape’s dams have decreased from to 59.7% this week, with the Boegoeberg dam having decreased to 87.3%, and the Karee dam to 25.9%.
In Limpopo, the average dam levels increased from 66.3% to 67.1%. The Polokwane Water System increased to 75.8%.
In Mpumalanga, the average dam levels increased to 74.1%. The figure represents a 3.8% increase compared with the same period last year.