In a media statement issued today (21 June 2017), the Department of Water & Sanitation says there has been a decline in average dam levels in all provinces.
According to an assessment conducted on Monday, 19 June, the national water storage reflected a 0.4% decrease on dam levels which are currently sitting on an average of 71.6% compared with 71.9% of the previous week. Last year at the same time, the national water storage was at 53.8.2%.
The Vaal River system, serving mainly Gauteng, Sasol and Eskom, is at 83.3% compared with 83.5% last week. The Sterkfontein dam is steady at 90.7% and The Grootdraai dam has decreased by 1.4% and is now at 88.4%.
In the Orange River the Gariep dam is decreasing week on week and is currently at 83.5% – a decrease of 1.3%.
The Algoa system which consists of 5 dams serving Nelson Mandela Bay is reported at 35.7% this week compared with 36.4% last week, which is a decrease of 0.7%.
The Amathola system entailing 6 dams serving Buffalo City, saw a decrease of 0.9% in the previous week. It was reported at 67.9% last week and is currently sitting at 67.1% this week.
The Cape Town Dams system serving mainly the City of Cape Town is currently sitting at 22.7%. This is a slight increase from the previous week, however, the drought is still ongoing.
Voëlvlei dam is sitting at 18.2% – an increase of 1% compared to the previous week, and Theewaterskloof Dam swelled by a mere 2% and is currently sitting at 17.2%.
Level 4 restrictions remain in place, and all consumers have been urged to use less than 100 litres per person per day in total.
Umgeni Dam system in KZN, serving mainly eThekwini and Mzinduzi, saw a decrease of 0.6% and is at 63.1%.
Other KZN dams, which remain low, include Phongolo at 39.8% and Goedertrouw at 34.0%, which is a slight increase of 0.2% from last week.
The Polokwane System has remained steady for the past two weeks and is currently sitting at 64.1%.
The water restrictions will remain in place in all provinces with the exception of Gauteng. All South Africans from all provinces are urged to continue using water sparingly.
