The Department of Water and Sanitation has issued an appeal for consumers to use water sparingly as levels at the Vaal Dam and three others are dropping.
According to a statement released by the department, this is the first time in 12 months that the Vaal Dam has dipped below the neutral 50 percent mark, showing a week-on-week decline. The dam is currently at around 49.8 percent, significantly lower when compared with the 71.5 percent recorded at the same time last year. Just last week the dam was at 50.6 percent capacity, and the department said this drop was a signal to use water sparingly.
Other dams that form part of the Integrated Vaal River System (IVRS) had also taken a knock over the past week, said the department. Levels at Grootdraai Dam in Mpumalanga and the Mohale Dam in Lesotho had dropped, Grootdraai from 89 percent to 87.8 percent and Mohale from 14.4 percent to 13.6 percent.
Katse Dam in Lesotho which too forms part of IVRS has shown no improvement in water levels for months. According to the statement, the dam fell from 37.6 percent last week to 37.2 percent this week. Both these levels however were higher compared with the 33.8 percent recorded during the same week in the preceding year.
On a positive note, two dams showed an upward trajectory this week. Sterkfontein Dam in the Free State rose from 93.4 percent to 93.6 percent, while Bloemhof Dam, between North West and Free State provinces, increased from 100.1 percent to 100.6 percent.
“Given the weekly drop in the levels of the Vaal and other dams in the IVRS system, the Department of Water and Sanitation urges consumers to use the bare minimum of water, also bearing in mind that the country is moving into the dry winter season.”
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