Water restrictions to continue countrywide
KwaZulu-Natal is the second worst affected province in the drought.
WITH the recent rains across the country not making enough impact on the drought, water restrictions will continue, says the Department of Water and Sanitation. According to recent statistics issued by the department, KwaZulu-Natal is the second worst affected province.
The Umgeni System, with five dams serving eThekwini and Msunduzi, was at 48.7 per cent last week but remained the same at 48.7 per cent this week. The system recorded 58.3 per cent during the same period last year.
The department said the national storage of dams have shown a slight increase of 0.8 per cent from 54.2 per cent last week to 55 per cent this week.
“At this time last year, the national storage was at 55.4 per cent. This is a clear sign that the recent rains did not make that much of an impact on our dams and the Department of Water and Sanitation would like to caution that the drought is still upon us.”
The department on Wednesday called on water users to adhere to water restrictions imposed by their respective municipalities and continue using water sparingly.
Currently provincial levels stand as follows:
Eastern Cape – 57.7 per cent
Western Cape – 37.9 per cent
KwaZulu-Natal – 47 per cent
Free State – 56.7 per cent
Gauteng – 86.6 per cent
Limpopo – 63.7 per cent
Mpumalanga – 65.9 per cent
North West – 73.2 per cent
Northern Cape – 93.7 per cent
Seasonal forecasters predict that above-average rainfall can be expected up to March 2017.
