THE Department of Water and Sanitation has warned that the lower-than-normal rainfall, caused by El Niño since last year, continues to impact negatively on dam levels across South Africa.

“According to the latest dam levels assessments, the combined average dam levels are at 54.8%. This is a sharp decrease as the dam levels were at 79.8% at the same time last year,” the department said.

An overview of dam levels of water systems at provinces shows that the water levels at the Voelvlei Dam in the Western Cape are at 19.0% compared with 19.4% last week, a decrease of 0.4%.

In KwaZulu-Natal, the Hazelmere Dam is steady at 42.7%, Nagel Dam 83.9% compared to 86.5% last week, a decrease of 2.4% week on week.

The department has also warned that the Vaal system has dropped to near 60% and this is close to the break point where restrictions may have to be considered.

The South African Weather Bureau has predicted that the situation is most likely to persist with little rain expected for the next seven days as the frontal systems will slip by the country.