Vaal Dam. Image: Department of Water and Sanitation
The Department of Water and Sanitation’s (DWS) latest weekly report revealed a significant decline in the country’s dam water levels.
Twenty-three dams nationally recorded levels of under 40% of their capacity, with some going as low as below 1%.
KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng are the only provinces with dams that have proportionately high capacities.
The highest reserves in these provinces stood at 61.5% at Spring Grove Dam and 74% at Bronkhorstspruit Dam.
The Vaal Dam, an essential part of the Integrated Vaal River System (IVRS), recorded a capacity of 33.1% of its full storage capacity (FSC) of 2.5 billion cubic metres, this week.
The department’s comparison noted that it went down from 34.8% the previous week, and 73.6% last year.
As part of the 14 dams that make up the IVRS, the Vaal will also draw water from Sterkfontein Dam if it reaches a certain low mark.
“The standard operating rule is that Sterkfontein Dam releases water to the Vaal Dam when the Vaal Dam reaches a level below 18%,” DWS Communication Services’ Sanku Tsunke confirmed to The Citizen.
Sterkfontein Dam was listed as being at 97.7% of its 2.6 billion cubic metre FSC, as per the 4 November reading.
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This week, three out of 45 dams in the Eastern Cape recorded capacities below 40%.
Debe Dam, with a 6.4 million cubic metre FSC stood at 26.4%, seeing an increase from last week where it sat at 25.7%. Last year it was slightly higher at 38.6%.
Lubisi Dam saw a decrease to 35.7% from last week’s 36.3%. With an FSC of 113.6 million cubic metres, last year Lubisi had a much higher level of 73.9%.
Nuwejaars Dam increased from 14.2% last week, to 19.3% this week. Last year, it was also below 30%, standing at 20.7%.
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Limpopo’s dam levels are concerning.
Glen Alpine Dam stood at 0.2% this week, with an FSC of 18.9 million cubic metres. Last week the dam was at 0.6%. These levels are a stark difference to last year’s 50.7%.
Middel-Letaba Dam this week stands at 0.7% of its FSC of 172.0 million cubic metres, maintaining the same level as the previous week. Middel-Letaba was at 3.6% last year around the same time.
Modjadji Dam’s latest available data is the same as last week, standing at 29.2%. Last year, around the same time, the dam boasted a much higher level, standing at 60.0% with an FSC of 7.2 million cubic metres.
Nsami Dam with an FSC of 21.9 million cubic metres this week stands at 11.8%. Last week it was at 12.0% and last year, it boasted a capacity of 53.4%.
Nwanedzi Dam, with an FSC of 5.2 million cubic metres, recorded 11.2%, an increase from last week’s 9.9% capacity. Last year, around the same time, Nwanedzi boasted a much higher level of 77.4%.
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Ohrigstad Dam has the lowest level in Mpumalanga, maintaining last week’s level of 16.7%. It has an FSC of 13.5 million cubic metres , and stood at 58.4% last year.
Westoe Dam was the second lowest, meeting only 35.3% of its capacity. This is a slight decrease from last week’s 35.4%.
Last year Westoe was almost half full at 44.0%. It has 60.1 million cubic metres FSC.
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Out of six dams in the Northern Cape, only two were below half of their capacity.
Karee Dam, which has a 1 million cubic metres FSC, recorded 35.1% this week, maintaining last week’s level.
Karee was at 91.5% of its capacity last year around the same time.
Leeubos Dam, also with a 1 million cubic metres FSC, was at 0%. It was completely dry last year as well.
Kromellenboog Dam, with an 8.7 million cubic metres FSC, stood at 36% of its capacity. This was a decrease from last week’s 38.3% and a huge drop from last year’s 73.3%.
Lindleyspoort Dam stood at 23.8%, decreasing from 25.1% last week, and 80.8% last year. Lindleyspoort has a 14.3 million cubic metres FSC.
Madikwe Dam recorded a 22.9% capacity, a decrease from 23.2% last week. With a 16 million cubic metres FSC, it had a much higher water level last year, sitting at 64.9%.
Marico-Bosveld Dam was also less than quarter of its full capacity, at 22.6% this week and 24.2% last week, while it boasted 67.8% last year. It has a 27.0 million cubic metres FSC.
Molatedi Dam slightly decreased to 27.6%, from 27.9% last week. It was almost double this level last year, at 53.3%.
Ngotwane Dam, of 19.1 million cubic metres FSC, was at a stable 32.2% since last week. It was only at 37.2% last year.
Pella Dam stood at 19.8% this week, down from 20.5%. Last year it stood at 49.8%. Pella has a 2.2 million cubic metres FSC.
Swartruggens Dam’s level was below 1%, recording 0.7%. It was at the same level last week. This is a significant decrease from its level of 76.5% last year, with a 0.5 million cubic metres FSC.
Vaalkop Dam decreased to 29.5% this week, from 30.3% last week. It boasted 84.3% last year. Vaalkop has a 51.4 million cubic metres FSC.
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Leeugamka Dam decreased to 13.7% this week, from 15.5% last week. It was at 36.1% last year. Leeugamka has a 13.5 million cubic metres FSC.
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