Past figures provided by the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS), show that on January 1, 2015, it was 101,5 per cent full. It steadily decreased to the lowest level it had ever been in the past five years – 20,35 per cent, in November 2016.
The only time during that period it has come close to that is in January at 28 per cent. The lowest the dam has ever been was in 1995 at 8,81 per cent. The steepest decline was between 1991 and 1992 where it dropped from 100,71 per cent to 11,48 per cent in just one year.
Since the first rain arrived in late January as a result of Cyclone Eloise, Kwena has risen by more than half of its capacity, 53 per cent. Coming into 2021, Kwena’s level was at 28 per cent, according to the DWS’ report of January 8.
The most recent report, February 24, stated the dam now sits at 88,1 per cent. Kwena’s levels since the start of 2021 January 4 – 28,7 per cent January 11 – 29,4 January 18 – 28 January 25 – 35,2 February 1 – 52,7 February 8 – 72 February 15 – 81 February 17 – 83 February 19 – 85,8 February 22 – 87,6 February 24 – 88,1.
Mpumalanga’s dam levels remain above the 80 per cent mark. The average water levels in the listed dams in the province are now at 87,5 per cent. This translates to 2 222,1 cubic metres of water in storage out of the required full capacity 2 538,6 cubic metres.
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This is more than 10 per cent higher than the same period last year when 75,1 per cent had been recorded. Inkomati-Usuthu water management area is now at an average of 90,5 per cent. In the Ehlanzeni District, Blyderivierpoort and Longmere dams dropped from 101,8 per cent to 101,3 and 82,7 per cent to 80,2 respectively.
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In the Gert Sibande District, Vygeboom Dam went down from 102,1 per cent to 100,9, and Loskop Dam in the Nkangala District decreased from 100,9 per cent to 100,2. In Ehlanzeni, Buffelskloof increased from 99,5 per cent to 100,6, Klipkoppies from 85,6 per cent to 96,9, Kwena from 82,7 per cent to 87,6, Inyaka from 79 per cent to 80,4 and Ohrigstad Dam from 58,6 per cent to 70.
Driekoppies, Witklip, Primkop, and Da Gama dams remained unchanged at 103,3 per cent, 101,3, 102,2 and 100,8 respectively.
