The Department urges water users and communities to tighten the belt and strengthen water conservation and wise use initiatives as the country continue to experience high evaporation as a result of very high temperatures whilst at the same time rain continues to be scarce and evasive.
READ: Be water-wise, dam levels critical
The DWS weekly state of reservoirs report of 04 November 2019 shows that Mpumalanga’s water storage levels further dropped by another 1 per cent this week from last week’s 58 per cent to 57.0 per cent . This is the same drop margin as recorded last week.
The water management areas also continued to record declines in water volumes, with the Olifants dropping from 47.8% to 47.0% and the Inkomati-Usuthu dropping from 62.8 per cent to 61.9 per cent .
The water levels in the listed dams in the Mpumalanga Province dropped ranging from 1% to 4%.
The only listed dam that recorded a slight improvement in water volumes is the Klipkopjes Dam in the Ehlanzeni District, which is below 30 per cent recording an increase from 24.8 per cent to 25.3 per cent.
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In the Ehlanzeni District, only the Driekoppies and Witklip dams remain above 60 per cent , Blyderivierpoort, Longmere and Da Gama dams are just above the 50% mark and Inyaka Dam just joined the below 50 per cent group of dams by dropping from 50.6 per cent to 49.9 per cent .
The Kwena Dam which is strategic for the City of Mbombela and the Crocodile River downstream continued its decline below 40%, further dropping from 34.7% to 32.8%.
In the Gert Sibande District, Heyshope, Nooitgedacht and Vygeboom dams remain above 70 per cent and Jericho Dam is still above 60 per cent , The Grootdraai Dam continues its drop below the 50 per cent further dropping from 47.8 per cent to 46.2 per cent .
The Rhenosterkop Dam in the Nkangala District which is critically running low continued to record another 1% drop from last week’s 0.5% to 0.4%.
The Witbank and Middelburg dams are still above 70 per cent and the Loskop Dam above 60% but also continue to record declines in water volumes.
The Department, therefore, encourages all South Africans to be more responsible and savvy in using the available water sparingly for water security and access for all.
