Mpumalanga water levels continue to decline, but still above 70%
Despite the drop in water levels in the Mpumalanga Province, Klipkopjes and Primkop dams in the Ehlanzeni District recorded some improvements
The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) would like to urge the public to continue using water wisely, sparingly and in a more conservative manner as water levels in the listed dams and catchment areas in the Mpumalanga Province continue to drop.
According to the DWS weekly state of reservoirs report of August 3, the average water in the listed dams in the Mpumalanga Province dropped from last week’s 71.2% to 70.7% which simply means that there is now 1794.2 cubic meters of water out of the full capacity requirement of 2538.6 cubic meters.
The water level is much better than the same period last year when the average water volume stood at 68.4%.
The report also shows that the Mpumalanga average dam level of 70.7% is above the national average which stands at 68.2%.
Water levels in the catchment areas also continue to drop, with the Olifants water management area (WMA) recording a drop from last week’s 66.1% to 65.7% and the Inkomati-Usuthu WMA dropping from 68.3% to 67.7%.
Despite the drop in water levels in the Mpumalanga Province, Klipkopjes and Primkop dams in the Ehlanzeni District recorded some improvements, with the Klipkopjes Dam increasing from 64.0% to 66.4% and the Primkop Dam increasing from 83.9% to 86.5%.
Inyaka and Loskop dams remained unchanged at 53.8% and 100.1% respectively.
All the other listed dams continued to drop in water volumes.
“The department commends the water users in the Mpumalanga Province for their efforts in using the available water wisely and sparingly in the midst of the coronavirus and would like to encourage them to continue with their water conservation initiatives for water security as South Africa is a water scarce country,” said Mr Themba Khoza from DWS.
