Mpumalanga dam levels steadily declining to below 70%
The Department of Water and Sanitation’s (DWS) weekly state of reservoirs report of 5 August showed that the water in storage in the province recorded a 0.8% decline from the previous week’s 69.0% to 68.2%, which simply translates to 1731.5 cubic litres.
Mpumalanga continues to record steady declines of levels in the listed dams and the catchment management areas.
The Department of Water and Sanitation’s (DWS) weekly state of reservoirs report of 5 August showed that the water in storage in the province recorded a 0.8% decline from the previous week’s 69.0% to 68.2%, which simply translates to 1731.5 cubic litres.
Water levels also continue to drop in the water management areas (WMA), with the Olifants WMA dropping from 58.1% to 57.1% and the Inkomati-Usuthu WMA dropping from 72.4% to 71.7%.
In comparison to the other provinces, Mpumalanga still stands at number four behind Gauteng, Free State and Northern Cape in terms of water availability in the country.
The greater majority of all the listed dams in the Mpumalanga Province recorded declines in water volumes, except for the Jericho Dam which recorded a slight increase from 61.7% to 61.9%, and the Witbank, Westoe and Da Gama dams which remained unchanged at 83.9%, 66.5% and 67.4% respectively.
In the Nkangala District, the listed dams remained above 80% with the Witbank Dam unchanged at 83.9%, Middelburg Dam dropped from 88.7% to 87.1% and Loskop Dam dropped from 87.8% to 86.6%.
In the Ehlanzeni District, Blyderivierpoort Dam dropped from 90.9% to 86.9%, Driekoppies Dam dropped from 72.5% to 72.2%, Longmere dam dropped from 68.8% to 65.1%, Klipkopjes Dam dropped from 38.4% to 38.0%, Witklip Dam dropped from 90.7% to 88.5%, Primkop Dam dropped from 20.3% to 19.2%, Kwena Dam dropped from 53.9% to 52.1%, Inyaka Dam dropped from 63.3% to 62.0% and Da Gama Dam remained unchanged at 67.4%.
The Jericho Dam recorded a slight increase from 61.7% to 61.9% and the Westoe Dam remained unchanged at 66.5% in the Gert Sibande District.
All the other listed dams in the District recorded declines in water volumes with Grootdraai Dam dropping from 66.5% to 65.6%, Nooitgedacht Dam dropping from 87.2% to 86.6%, Vygeboom Dam dropping from 98.5% to 96.6%, Heyshope Dam dropping from 82.9% to 82.5% and Morgenstond Dam dropping from 48.0% to 46.4%.
The Department of Water and Sanitation encouraged the public to continue using water wisely and in a more conservative manner as the water levels are lower than the levels recorded during the same period last year.
Climate change is a factor for serious consideration. This calls for all to be more conservative in water usage.
