‘Tighten the belt’ as Mpumalanga continuously records a drop in water volumes
The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) has re-emphasized the importance of water conservation as dam levels in the catchment areas continuously decline week after week.
The Department urges water users and communities to tighten the belt and strengthen water conservation initiatives as the country continues to experience high evaporation and rain continues to be scarce and evasive.
The DWS weekly state of reservoirs report of 04 November 2019 shows that Mpumalanga’s water storage levels further dropped by another 1% this week from last week’s 58% to 57.0%.
The water management areas also continued to record declines in water volumes, with the Olifants dropping from 47.8% to 47.0% and the Inkomati-Usuthu dropping from 62.8% to 61.9%.
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The water levels in the listed dams have dropped, ranging from 1% to 4%. The only listed dam that recorded a slight improvement in water volumes is the Klipkopjes Dam in the Ehlanzeni District, which is below 30% recording an increase from 24.8% to 25.3%.
In the Ehlanzeni District, only the Driekoppies and Witklip dams remain above 60%, Blyderivierpoort, Longmere and Da Gama dams are just above the 50% mark and Inyaka Dam just joined the below 50% group of dams, by dropping from 50.6% to 49.9%.
The Kwena Dam which is strategic for the City of Mbombela and the Crocodile River downstream, continued its decline below 40%, further dropping from 34.7% to 32.8%.
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In the Gert Sibande District, Heyshope, Nooitgedacht and Vygeboom dams remain above 70% and Jericho Dam is still above 60%. The Grootdraai Dam continues its drop below the 50% mark further dropping from 47.8% to 46.2%.
The Rhenosterkop Dam in the Nkangala District which is critically running low continued to record another 1% drop from last week’s 0.5% to 0.4%. The Witbank and Middelburg dams are still above 70% and the Loskop Dam is above 60% but also continues to record declines in water volumes.
The Department therefore encourages all South Africans to be more responsible and savvy in using the available water sparingly for water security and access for all.
