WATER LEVELS DIP NEED TO LIMIT USAGE

WATER users have been urged to reduce their consumption to a bare minimum after the Vaal Dam level dipped below the 50% mark as it continues to drop weekon-week.

The Department of Water and Sanitation announced yesterday that for the first time in 12 months, the dam had dipped below 50%, signalling a need for users to limit water use.

Department spokesperson Sputnik Ratau said that the Vaal Dam was presently hovering at 49.8%.

“The dam is significantly lower compared with the level of 71.5% it recorded in the same week last year. Last week, the dam was sitting at 50.6%.”

Other dams that form part of the Integrated Vaal River System with the

Vaal Dam had also taken a knock this week, such as Grootdraai Dam, which fell from 89% last week to 87.8% . The entire Integrated Vaal River System also saw a slight decline going down from 67.6% last week to 67.3% this week.

“The system, which remains resilient up until now, was floating at 74.1% in the same week last year,” Ratau said.

He said Lesotho’s Katse and Mohale dams, which supply Gauteng with 70% of its water, continued to drop weekly.

The Mohale Dam deteriorated this week, moving from 14.4% last week to 13.6%.

“In the preceding year in the same week, the dam was at 33.3%,” Ratau said.

He said the Katse Dam had shown no improvement in levels for months. The dam fell to 37.2% from 37.6% last week.

Hosia Sithole from the department told The Star yesterday that the dam was dipping because Gauteng was moving into winter and experiencing less rainfall. |