The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) calls on the public and all water users to use the available water wisely, sparingly and in a more conservative manner as water levels in the listed dams in the Mpumalanga Province continue to drop.

The DWS weekly state of reservoirs report of May 25 shows that the Mpumalanga Province recorded another week of decline on average water levels in the listed dams, further dropping from last week’s 75.2% to 74.9%. The water management areas (WMA) also recorded declines in water volumes, with the Olifants WMA dropping from 68.5% to 67.9% and the Inkomati-Usuthu WMA dropping from 72.9% to 72.6%.

The report also shows that the Mpumalanga Province is still stable in terms of water availability with about 1900.2 cubic meters of water out of the required full capacity of 2538.6 cubic meters, and is in a better situation as compared to the same period last year when it stood at 73.3%,”said Mr Themba Khoza spokesperson for DWS.  

In the Nkangala District, only Loskop Dam remained unchanged at 100.3% and the rest of the listed dams recorded declines in volume. Witbank Dam dropped from 101.8% to 100.6%, Middelburg Dam dropped from 96.6% to 96.2% and Rhenosterkop Dam dropped from 2.4% to 2.3%.

Jericho Dam, feeding Ga-Nala’s water dropped from 81.1% to 80.7%.

“The Department of Water and Sanitation would also like to remind the public that South Africa is a water scarce country therefore every drop counts, especially as the country is fighting the spread of the coronavirus.”