The torrential rainfall in parts of South Africa has improved the surface water storage levels in the country’s dams to 79.8% this week, a huge increase as compared to last week’s 74.5%.

The rising of the dam levels has also boosted the Integrated Vaal River System that provides water to Gauteng province and to key industries within the province, which has shot up from 71.4% to 79.4% this week.

The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) spokesperson, Wisane Mavasa, said the department is closely monitoring the Vaal Dam, which has drastically improved this week, taking a giant leap from last week’s 24.3% to 46.2% on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the dam level stood at above 50%.

Mavasa said the Vaal Dam has, for the past few months, been on a downward spiral, with the DWS making plans to release water from the Sterkfontein Dam into the Vaal Dam to augment its levels when it reaches 18% in volume.

“However, this will no longer be necessary as the Vaal Dam is rapidly rising. We are now clear of the risk of the Vaal Dam dropping below its minimum operating level of 18%. The dam had experienced a continuous decline over the past few months,” said Mavasa.

The decline was due to elevated temperatures which have led to increased evaporation losses and the low inflows into the dam due to the lack of rainfall in the Vaal catchment.

According to the DWS, the Limpopo province has increased by 9.4% this week, rising from 73.2% to 82.6%.

The North West rose from last week’s 64.7% to 72.5% this week, a staggering 7.8% increase.

The Free State province also saw a considerable increase from last week’s 68.5% to 72.6% this week.

Rainfall in parts of the above-mentioned provinces has exceeded 150mm, while parts of Limpopo, Mpumalanga, and KwaZulu-Natal received more than 200mm.

“There is an expectation of isolated to scattered rainfall over central and eastern areas of the country, particularly in Free State, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, and KwaZulu-Natal provinces this week, as a result, surface water storage in these areas is expected to improve further next week,” said Mavasa.

The storage capacity in the country’s major Water Supply Systems (WSS) has also shown a good improvement, with Luvuvhu WSS in Limpopo, serving Thohoyandou, having drastically improved from 88.4% to 97.3% this week. Polokwane WSS has also escalated from 82.2% to 98.6% this week.

Crocodile West WSS, which serves Tshwane in Gauteng and Rustenburg in North West, has improved from 86.4% to 92.5% this week. Crocodile East WSS serving Nelspruit, KaNyamazane, Matsulu, Malelane, and Komatipoort in Mpumalanga shot up from 60.1% to 73.8% this week.

Bloemfontein WSS in the Free State, which serves Bloemfontein, Botshabelo and Thaba Nchu, has slightly dropped from 69.9% to 69.6% this week.

Mavasa said that despite the drastic improvements in water levels due to the recent rainfall in some parts of the country, some provinces have dropped but are still at high levels.

Northern Cape province dropped from 72.9% to 67.8% this week. The province’s WSS has slightly dropped, with Orange WSS which supplies the Northern and Eastern Cape provinces moving from 74.0% to 73.8%.

The water levels in the Eastern Cape are stable, slightly dropping from 81.7% to 81.4%. Algoa WSS, which supplies Nelson Mandela Bay Metro, Sarah Baartman District, Kouga Local Municipality, and Gamtroos Irrigation, has also slightly dropped from 81.2% to 80.2% this week. Butterworth Water Supply System has remained unchanged this week with 97.8%,

Amathole WSS is stable at 98.5% this week. The system has a total of six dams that serve Bhisho, Buffalo City, and East London. Klipplaat WSS, which serves Chris Hani District Municipality, has also dropped from 90.4% to 89.1%.

Western Cape water levels have also dropped from 83.0% to 80.9%, with Cape Town WSS also dropping from 88.0% to 85.9% this week.

The department issued a warning to residents to avoid water bodies, particularly when the rain can be disruptive.

“We appeal to members of the public to stay away from the rivers, lakes, and dams, especially in the low-lying areas,” said Mavasa.

zainul.dawood@inl.co.za

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