Department advises wiser use of water as Mpumalanga dam levels continue to decline

The department said in a statement that as of May 24, only the Witklip Dam recorded slight improvement, increasing from 100,1 per cent to 100,2.

However, the Blyderivierpoort, Driekoppies, Vygeboom and the critically low Rhenosterkop dams remain unchanged at 100,3, 100,2, 100,3 and 9,6 per cent respectively.

The statement added that some dams in the Ehlanzeni District are also on the decline. These dams include Buffelskloof, which dropped from 100,2 to 100,1 per cent, while the Longmere Dam dropped from 100,4 to 100,2 per cent.

The department said Klipkopje Dam decreased from 100 to 99,6 per cent, and Primkop Dam dropping from 100,2 to 100 per cent.

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Also in Ehlanzeni District, the Kwena Dam dropped from 100,2 to 100,1 per cent, and Da Gama Dam decreased from 99,8 to 98,9, Inyaka from 87 to 86,8 and Ohrigstad from 79,2 to 78,2 per cent.

The Gert Sibande District also showed decreases in dam levels, which included the Grootdraai, Nooitgedacht, Jericho, Westoe, Morgenstond and the Heyshope dams.

In the Nkangala District, Witbank Dam dropped from 96,4 to 95,6 per cent, and Middelburg from 92,2 to 91,3 and Loskop from 98,2 to 97,3 per cent.

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“Overall, the average water levels in the listed dams in the Mpumalanga Province dropped from last week’s 86,8 to 86,3 per cent, translating to 2 191,4 cubic metres of water in storage out of the required 2 538,6 cubic metres,” said the department.

“In the water management areas (WMA), the Olifants WMA dropped from 79,6 to 78,1 per cent and the Inkomati-Usuthu WMA dropped from 92,1 to 91,1.

“DWS would also like to remind the public that South Africa is a dry and water-scarce country, therefore it is everybody’s responsibility to play a role in water conservation and make every drop count for water supply security.”