SA dams at low levels

The high temperatures in large parts of the country are gradually having a negative impact on South Africa’s dam levels.

A weekly report by the department of water and sanitation (DWS) shows that as a result of sweltering temperatures, dam levels are dropping at an average of 1% week-on-week.

Comparatively, dam levels in the country have dropped by 10% – from 74% to 64% – compared to the same period last year.

The Western Cape Water Supply System (WCWSS) declined by 1% in the last week. Rashid Khan, Western Cape provincial head of the DWS says that the WCWSS is currently at 79.28% compared to 80.22% last week.

“While we are witnessing a week by week slight drop in dam levels, the state of dams show our water management decisions are keeping us within the margins of water security,” says Khan.

The water situation in Limpopo and Eastern Cape is even more alarming as dam levels have dropped to almost half of where they were in 2018.

At the beginning of this week, Limpopo levels dropped to 50.5% from 51.2%, while Eastern Cape dams slid to 51.6% from 52.4%.

The Vaal Dam, which is one of the critical dams in the Integrated Vaal River System (IVRS), has been severely affected with levels decreasing to 51.5% this week.

Gauteng is presently experiencing high temperatures and this situation is compounded by the slight rainfalls, which are few and far between.

Another contributing factor to the decline of the Vaal Dam is attributed to the shutdown of the Lesotho Highlands water tunnel for a two-month period for maintenance between October 1 and November 30. The effect of the shutdown is that no water transfers to the IVRS will take place over this period as the tunnel was drained for the work to take place.

The Vaal Dam has declined to 53.0% compared to the same period last year when it stood safely at 86.6%.

The latest dam updates are as follows:

The IVRS – consisting of 14 dams serving mainly Gauteng, Sasol and Eskom – is at a total of 85.1%.

The Cape Town Dam System – consisting of six dams serving mainly the City of Cape Town – is at 64.3% this week.

The Eastern Cape Dam System is at 51.6% while KwaZulu-Natal sits at 54.1%.

The state of dams show our management decisions are keeping us within the margins of water security.

Rashid Khan

W Cape head of department of water and sanitation