Many dams overflowing – but not in Eastern and Western Cape

SEVERAL dams across South Africa have overflowed over the past two weeks‚ thanks to a significant improvement in rainfall‚ the Department of Water and Sanitation said yesterday.

“The rain was soft but intense‚ enough to soak the soil and replenish groundwater for basic use‚” it said.

Improvements in the past two weeks have been noticed in most provinces‚ particularly Gauteng‚ Mpumalanga‚ Free State‚ North West and KwaZulu-Natal.

The report shows that national average dam levels have increased significantly from 70.5% last week to 75.2% this week.

In Gauteng, the Vaal Dam level increased from 94.7% to 103.5% last week. The Integrated Vaal River system‚ consisting of 14 dams, including the Vaal Dam, that serve Gauteng‚ Sasol and Eskom‚ increased from 83.5% to 87.6%.

The system was at 86.8% at the same time last year.

However‚ the Western Cape water supply system’s six dams that serve mainly the City of Cape Town decreased from 18.3% to 17.7%‚ the department said.

The system was at 24.4% at the same time last year.

“Theewaterskloof Dam continues on a week-on-week downward slide from 10.4% to 10.3%. Last year at the same time‚ the dam was at 21.1%. Clanwilliam is the only dam that registered some improvement from 6.2% to 6.4%‚ while Voëlvlei remains stagnant at 14.5%.’’

In the Eastern Cape‚ the Algoa system with five dams serving Nelson Mandela Bay decreased marginally from 24.7% to 24.5%. Last year the system was recorded at 44.1%.

The Kouga Dam remained static at 10.8% while the Loerie Dam decreased from 100.3% to 98.0% at the end of last week. The Groendal Dam stands at 50.7%‚ while Impofu took a slight knock from 38.5% to 38.2%.

The Amathole system with six dams serving Buffalo City increased slightly from 90.4% to 90.7%. Last year this time‚ the department said‚ it was at 73.5%.

Bridle Drift decreased from 81.8% to 81.6% and Nahoon from 97.9% to 96.9%.

Laing is down from 100.4% to 100.2%. Last year at the same time, it was at 99.7%

The Bloemfontein system with four dams serving mainly Mangaung increased by 7% from 41.4% to 48.4%. At the same time last year, it was at 49.2%.

Welbedacht is at 72.7%. Knellpoort increased from 48.3% to 51.3%, Rustfontein increased from 26.4% to 40.4% and Groothoek Dam experienced the biggest increase and is up from 37.9% to 53.5%.

In North West, the Crocodile West increased significantly from 83.3% to 89.6% in the period under review.

The system was recorded at 97.1% last year. Disaneng is down from 63.2% to 62.8%. Setumo is at 80.3% and Potchefstroom is at 100.8%.

The Umgeni Dam system in KwaZulu-Natal with five dams serving eThekwini and Msunduzi in Pietermaritzburg increased from 70.5% to 73.7%. The system was at 62.0% in the same period last year.

The Midmar Dam decreased from 101.1% to 100.5%‚ while Inanda has increased from 62.8% to 70.3%. This has led the eThekwini Municipality to consider lifting water restrictions that have been imposed due to the drought.

The Northern Cape average stands at 82.2%‚ an increase of 0.9% from 81.3% last week. Vaalharts was recorded at 91.1%‚ a decrease from 94.6% last week.

In Limpopo, the dam levels increased from 69.8% to 74.2%. Modjadji is at 28.6%. Nandoni is down from 101.8% to 101%‚ and De Hoop is at 95.4%.

In Mpumalanga, levels rose by a fraction from 81% to 81.3%. Last year at the same time, levels in the province stood at 78.2%.

Buffelskloof is at 82.7% and Bronkhorstspruit is bursting at the seams at 103.8%.