Mpumalanga Department of Water and Sanitation urges public to use water wisely

As the country and the world grapples with the challenge of the coronavirus which calls for people to wash their hands frequently, the Department of Water and Sanitation urges the public to be more conservative and use the available water in a wise manner and sparingly to ensure that everyone has access to the source of life during these trying times.

Mpumalanga recorded another week of decline in the average water reserves in dams in the province. According to the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) weekly state of reservoirs report of March 23, Mpumalanga recorded a slight drop from last week’s 74,9  per cent to 74,7  per cent.

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In the water management areas (WMA), the Olifants catchment continued to drop; from last week’s 67,7  per cent to 67,4  per cent and the Inkomati-Usuthu water management area remained unchanged at 71,2  per cent.

Even though the average levels in the province dropped, the Blyderivierpoort and Vygeboom dams are still above 100 per cent, with the Byderivierpoort Dam recording a slight drop from last week’s 100,3  per cent to 100,2  per cent and the Vygeboom slightly improving from 100,4  per cent to 100,5  per cent.

In the Ehlanzeni District, the Klipkopjes, Primkop, Kwena and Ohrigstad dams recorded some improvements in water levels, with the Klipkopjes Dam increasing from 18,4  per cent to 18,6  per cent, Primkop Dam increasing from 68,4 per cent to 70,5 per cent, Kwena Dam increasing from 52,6 per cent to 53,4 per cent and Ohrigstad Dam increasing from 12 per cent to 12,3 per cent.

The Longmere and Inyaka dams remained unchanged at 67,3 per cent and 55,8 per cent respectively. On the decline side, Blyderivierpoort Dam dropped from 100,3 per cent to 100,2 per cent, Driekoppies Dam dropped from 70,3 per cent to 70,2 per cent, Witklip Dam dropped from 79,6 per cent to 79,2 per cent and Da Gama dropped from 57,2 per cent to 56,1 per cent.

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In the Gert Sibande District, the Vygeboom, Jericho and Morgenstond dams recorded some slight improvements in water volumes, with the Vygeboom Dam increasing from 100,4 per cent to 100,5 per cent, Jericho Dam increasing from 76,8 per cent to 78,8 per cent and the Morgenstond Dam increasing from 44,3 per cent to 44,6 per cent.

On the negative side, Grootdraai Dam dropped from 96,3 per cent to 95,1 per cent, Nooitgedacht Dam drooped from 95,6 per cent to 94,9 per cent, Westoe Dam dropped from 56,3 per cent to 55,5 per cent. The Heyshope Dam remained unchanged at 82 per cent.

In the Nkangala District, Witbank, Middelburg and Loskop dams remain above 95 per cent, with the Witbank Dam slightly increasing 97,4 per cent to 97,8 per cent, the Middelburg Dam remaining unchanged at 95,7 per cent and the Loskop Dam dropping from 99,1 per cent to 98,8 per cent.

The improvement in the critically low Rhenosterkop Dam was halted as it recorded a drop from last week’s 2,3 per cent to 1,8 per cent.