Vaal Dam plummets to lowest levels
Though it hovered below the 50% mark last year, the Mohale Dam has dwindled to reach its worst state at 3.3%.
The Vaal Dam, as seen in October 2019. Picture: Nigel Sibanda
Over the past twelve months, the levels of the Vaal Dam in the Vaal Integrated Vaal River System have plummeted by a huge margin.
The Department of Water & Sanitation, however, says the dam remains a safe notches from reaching the worst drop it saw when Gauteng was hit by a drought.
The Vaal Dam dropped below 50% for the first time since the drought in May.
The dam now sits at 31.2%, down from 32.4% last week, according to the department’s weekly state of dams.
It stood at 52.1% during the same period last year.
Also read: WATCH: Vaal Dam faces pollution problem
The Bloemhof Dam is also one of the dams that recorded a major drop this week, showing a decline from 89.2% last week to 87.1%.
The Grootdraai Dam is sitting at a firm 76.1% for the second consecutive week, higher than the comparative period last year when it stood at 56.8%
The reserve Sterkfontein Dam in the Free State recorded a slight increase from 94.1% to 94.2%. It was 91.6% full this time last year.
Though it hovered below the 50% mark last year, the Mohale Dam has dwindled to reach its worst state at 3.3%.
As low as the Katse Dam is at 22.7%, it is an improvement from the levels of 13.6% it recorded at the same time last year, while the Integrated Vaal River System (IVRS), has dropped from 56.9% last week to 56.0% this week.
“The Department of Water and Sanitation in Gauteng stresses the importance of community’s participation in efforts to conserve water and wishes to highlight its onerous role in preserving the resource by using it wisely and sparingly.
“The Department believes that water users are indispensable in keeping the consumption patterns at a bare-minimum to maintain the stability of the system and to ensure it is not compromised,” said the department.
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