Vaal Dam drops to unprecedented levels

The Vaal Dam has declined further this week, reaching unprecedented lower levels that are the worst in as many years, as it continues to dramatically fall week-on-week, the Vaal Weekblad reports.

“This week, the dam fell from 39.6% last week to 38.8% this week. The dam hovered under the neutral 50% mark for a number of months now as shown by the levels of 61.3% at which it stood during the same week last year,” the Department of Water and Sanitation said in a statement.

“Similarly, the Grootdraai Dam recorded a fall to 79.4% this week after it dropped from 79.9% last week. Despite the fall, the present levels of the dam remain higher when compared to last year during the same time when they stood at 62.9%.”

The levels of the Bloemhof Dam are above average this week at 96.5%. This is despite the decrease from last week’s levels of 98.2%. During the preceding year at the same time, the dam floated at 96.7%, showing that the dam has been in a healthy state for a number of months up until now.

In the Free State, the Sterkfontein Dam is stagnant this week, remaining at 93.9% for the second consecutive week. In the comparative period last year, it was equally strong at 92.2%.

The Mohale Dam in Lesotho is in a severely shrivelled state as it looks set to continue to remain in a concerning position. Presently, the dam stands at 6.2% following its fall from last week’s 6.7%. In the same week last year, the dam was at 33.1%.

Moving in the direction of the Mohale Dam is the Katse Dam, which is also in Lesotho. This week, the dam took a further knock from a lowly 28.7% last week to 27.7%. The dam persists hovering under the 50% mark and has not made any improvement from last year at the same time when it was at 18.2%.

Meanwhile, the Integrated Vaal River System (IVRS), which consists of 14 dams including the iconic Vaal Dam, has seen a drop this week. It fell from 61.8% last week to this week’s 60.8%. These present levels are lower compared to the 67.0% the dam reached in the same week last year.

This article first appeared on Vaal Weekbad and has been republished with permission.