Tzaneen dam level drops to a worrying 5.1%

The department of water and sanitation (DWS) calls on water users in the province to continue using water sparingly as the dam levels keep dropping by 1% weekly, reports Letaba Herald.

Minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation Lindiwe Sisulu addressed the media on the department’s response to the drought and said that there were 28 dams in total in Limpopo, none of which were 100% full.

“The latest DWS dam levels report indicates that 14 dams are between 50% and 100%, while 14 others are below 50%. Five of these are in a critical stage (<10%). They are Middle-Letaba, Glen Alpine, Modjadji, Tzaneen, and Doorndraai,” said spokesperson for DWS, Sputnik Ratau.

Sisulu further indicated that from the calculated available groundwater volume of 1, 1 billion m3/a, according to the DWS’ Water use Authorisation and Registration Management System (WARMS), 0,7 billion m3/a is registered use, therefore, 0,4 billion m3/a is available for future development.

Currently, a total of 162 towns and their surrounding communities have been reported by the provincial DWS office as being drought-affected. All of the reported areas in Limpopo province have current interventions in place.

“The report suggests that the provincial levels are currently at 49% this week, declining by [0.1%] compared to last week’s when reading recorded 49.1%. The department still calls on water users to avoid wasting water and adhere to water restrictions imposed by their respective municipalities,” said Ratau.

According to the department, the summary of Water Management Area (WMA) for Limpopo increased from 57.5%, to 58% this week.

The Olifants WMA slightly declined and is currently sitting at 45.7%, compared to last week at 46.2%.

The Polokwane Water Supply Systems is at 46.2% this week compared to 46.8% last week, with a decline of 27.9% compared to last year this time. The Luvuvhu Water Supply Systems have improved by 7%, sitting at 82.4% this week compared to 81.7% last week.

Nandoni Dam in Vhembe district is slowly declining, currently sitting at 85% from last week’s 85.5%, while VondoDam is currently sitting at 76.6% compared to last week when readings recorded 77.5%.

Ebenezer Dam in Groot Letaba, which supplies the majority of the communities around Polokwane, has dropped from 30.9% last week to 29.6% this week, while Tzaneen Dam raises a serious concern, dropping to 5.1% this week.

Farmers in the area are urged to use the available water wisely to avoid a complete shutdown of water supply in the area.

De Hoop Dam in Steelpoort which supplies communities of Sekhukhune and mining industries recorded  75.7% this week compared to last week when it recorded 76%, while FlagBoshielo has declined from 52.7% last week to 52.4% 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.

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