The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) continues to record drops in water levels despite rain during the past week.

Most parts of the province received some rain, but it was not enough to bring about significant improvements in the province’s water resources.

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DWS’ weekly state of reservoirs report of November 18 shows that the province recorded an average drop of water volumes in the listed dams from last week’s 56.3 per cent to 55.9 per cent.

The report shows that it in total has 1 418,7 cubic metres of water in storage out of the required full supply capacity volume of 2 538,6 cubic metres. The water management areas also continued to record declines in water volumes, with the Olifants catchment dropping from 46,2 per cent to 45,8 per cent and the Inkomati-Usuthu catchment dropping from 61,3 per cent to 61,0 per cent.

In the Ehlanzeni District, Longmere, Klipkopjes and Primkop dams recorded some slight improvements in water levels. Witklip, Da Gama and Inyaka dams recorded no changes in water volume. Driekoppies and Kwena dams continued to record declines in water volume, with the Kwena Dam dropping below 30 per cent from last week’s 30,8 per cent to 29,2 per cent.

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All the listed dams in the Nkangala District recorded declines in water volume with only the critically low Rhenosterkop Dam remaining unchanged at 0,4 per cent.

In the Gert Sibande District, only the Heyshope and Jericho dams recorded some improvements in water levels over the week with the rest of the dams dropping.

The continuous drop in water, even after receiving some rainfall, calls for every citizen of this country to play a role in water security by being responsible citizens and using the available water sparingly and efficiently.

DWS also urges water users and communities to strengthen water conservation and wise use as climate change is upon us and negatively impacting on resources and availability.

It also encourages the public to harvest rainwater on rainy days, so as to ensure that the much-needed rain does not go to waste and helps reduce pressure on the water resources.