Use water sparingly as dam levels decline

The Department of Water and Sanitation in KwaZulu-Natal has called on residents to continue using water sparingly as the province’s water storage capacity has declined from 87.4% to 86.5% in the past week.

Nagle Dam on the uMngeni River has decreased from 91.6% to 84.2% and Woodstock Dam on the Tugela River has dropped from 100.2% to 93.0%.

Unchanged are the Craigie Burn, Mearns and Zaaihoek Dams, which are sitting at 100.4%, 56.0% and 90.6% respectively.

The province’s main water supply system, Umgeni, has also marginally dropped from 96.4% to 95.8% in the current week.

Midmar Dam on the system has seen a minimal fall from 93.0% to 92.6% and Albert Falls Dam is at 94.9% from 95.1%. The Inanda and Ntshingwayo Dams stand at 100.9% and 72.8% respectively.

The department also asked residents to report water leaks to their local municipalities to preserve water in the province.

It is also working with Mhlathuze and Umgeni Water on the implementation of bulk water projects, including the uMkhomazi Water Project which is set to benefit the eThekwini Metro, Msunduzi, uMgungundlovu, Ugu, Ilembe and Harry Gwala Districts.

The project will transfer water from the uMkhomazi River to augment the uMngeni water supply system which supplies domestic water to more than five million people.

“In as much as we are anticipating bucket loads of rainfall in the coming months, it remains important that we ensure that every drop of water used is accounted for.

“What climate change has taught us over the years is extreme weather patterns. So, we might have water in abundance today and gone the next day,” said spokesperson Sputnik Ratau.

“One thing we must all keep in mind is that dams are used to store water and therefore, with the unpredictable extreme weather patterns, the stored water can evaporate throughout the summer season.

“In essence, the rainfall forecast is not an assurance that our dams will remain full. We need to make every drop count.”