The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) in Limpopo has called on residents to continue using water sparingly as the province’s dam levels continue to decline week-on -week.
The provincial levels are currently at 48.2% this week, declining by 0.2% compared to the same period last year.
A weekly report by DWS suggests that the situation is so dire, especially in most parts of the Mopani District Municipality where levels in major dams dropped alarminglysince the beginning of the.
“The situation has been exacerbated by the persistent heat wave that has been experienced in the area. In a desperate move to stop the dams from drying out completely, the District Municipality has stopped the extraction of water from the Modjadji and Middle-Letaba dams in the Greater Letaba Municipal area,” DWS Media Liaison Director Sputnik Ratau said.
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According to the department, the summary of Water Management Area (WMA) for Limpopo dropped from 62.3%, to 55.5 %, compared to the same period last year, The Olifants WMA is currently at 45.8% compared to 59.6% in the same period last year.
“The Polokwane Water Supply Systems continues to decline, sitting at 44.9%, reflecting a decline compared to last year this time when readings recorded 76.3%. The Luvuvhu Water Supply Systems have slightly decreased this year, having recorded 81.6 % this week compared to 93.0 % in the same period last year,” Ratau said.
Ebenezer Dam in Groot-Letaba slightly declined sitting at 31.9 % this week compared to last week’s 32.9%, a decrease of 1%.
Tzaneen Dam continues to decline, sitting at 5.5%, compared to 5.7% last week, showing a decrease of 0.2%.
The situation in the Tzaneen dam is concerning as it might force the Water Service Authority (WSA) to stop extracting water if it does not rain enough in the coming month or so.
MokoloDam decreasedfractionally from 58.8% last week to 59.6% this week, while De Hoop Dam in Steelpoort in the Sekhukhune area went down from 76.3 % last week to 76.1% this week.
The Department calls on the WSAs to continue to implement water restrictions so that reliable water provision is sustained until the province receives enough rain to fill all the dams.
“Water is a scarce resource and catalytic towards economic development and it must therefore be conserved at all times,” Ratau concluded.
