Dam levels continue to take a blow

As dam levels continue to decrease, the Department of Water and Sanitation has urged people to use water sparingly and always monitor water usage.

According to the department’s weekly dam levels report, issued on Tuesday, a continued decrease in most of the Integrated Vaal River System (IVRS) dams was recorded. 

The IVRS is made up of 14 dams and remains the lifeblood of Gauteng province and major industries such as Sasol and Eskom. 

“The Vaal Dam is down by 1% to 90.5% this week from 91.5% last week.  During a similar period last year, it was dangerously sitting at 34.1%,” the department reported. 

Grootdraai also took a blow from last week’s 82.7% to 81.7% this week. Compared to a similar period last year, it was sitting at 77.0%. 

Sterkfontein boasts a slight increase this week, as the dam level sits at 82.1% compared to 82.0% last week. Last year this time, the figures were at 89.5%. 

“This remains the reserve dam for the IVRS,” the department said. 

The figures at Bloemhof show a slight decrease from last week’s 99.1% to 97.5% this week – still a satisfactory result compared to last year’s 24.9% recorded during a similar period. 

Katse and Mohale dams also saw a drop from 30.2% and 63.2% to 27.9%, and 63.1 this week respectively. During this period last year, the dams were 47.1% and 31.7% full.

Source

SAnews.gov.za