Photo for illustration. The Vaal Dam wall after a period of heavy rainfall, 3 January 2021. Photo: The Citizen/Michel Bega
The Gauteng Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) emphasised the importance of water preservation despite the Integrated Vaal River System’s (IVRS) good standing.
The provincial system compromising of 14 dams suffered a slight decrease in dam levels, descending to 95.6% from last week’s 95.8%.
The decline is not alarming, and while the IVRS’s current condition is satisfactory, the department said the minor fluctuations are a reminder of the need to manage water resources efficiently.
A positive dam level report doesn’t make a difference when it comes to addressing water challenges in the province.
Back in March, water expert Professor Anthony Turton told The Citizen that rainfall, for example, “does not have anything to with water security in cities”.
This is because water security “is dependent not only water in dams, but the capacity to get water out of the dams and into water treatment plants”.
“If the Vaal Dam is full, you are still going to get significant water shortages,” he said.
And since South Africa is ranked as one of the top 30 driest countries in the world, every drop counts.
Guidelines on saving water include reducing shower times, minimising how often you wash your car, by fixing leaking pipes and taps, and only washing full loads of dishes or laundry.
Other measure include:
Here’s a closer look at the most notable changes of the weekly water level report:
The Vaal Dam’s water dropped by 0.7%, from 89.5% last week to 88.8%.
Although the dam was at a higher 99.7% during this period last year, the depart of water and sanitation said the current levels remain healthy.
A minor decline of 0.4% was recorded at Grootdraai Dam, from 92.8% last week to 92.4% this week.
Even though this is down from the 97.7% recorded last year, the department said the most recent level “is considered relatively high”.
This week, the water level at Sterkfontein Dam in the Free State remained stable at 100.9%, consistent with the previous week’s measurement.
This contrasts with the slightly lower 100.0% at the same time last year. Overall, a positive outcome.
An increase of 0.2% was noticed in Bloemhof Dam, with levels rising from 102.7% to 102.9%.
This marks an improvement from the previous year when it was at 100.0%.
The water levels in the Mohale and Katse dams in Lesotho remained consistent this week.
Katse Dam’s water level rose by 0.3% to 92.5%, while Mohale Dam saw a decrease of 0.4% to 96.7%.
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