Good inland rains boost dam levels
Steady rains over the last few days have brought welcome relief to the region
STEADY rains over the last few days have brought welcome relief to the region.
The Goedertrouw Dam, where the capacity level stood at only 17% at the beginning of the year, has increased to 27.4% by Monday morning, with more water from the catchment still expected to reach the dam over the next few days.
Last week Monday the dam was still at 17.9 percent and last year at this time it stood at 27.4%.
The dramatic increase is owing to the good rains, but also because the Department of Water Affairs and Sanitation was able to reduce the outflow of water from the dam owing to the good coastal rains.
PHOTOS: Larry Bentley
The small Hluhluwe Dam on the Hluhluwe River has also shown an increase – from 22.2 to 25.9%.
This is a good improvement on the level of last year when the dam was only 19.6% full.
Further north, the Klipfontein Dam on the White Mfolozi River has seen a 8.5% increase and is now at 33.5%.
The second largest dam in KZN, the Pongolapoort Dam, has shown a drop of 0.2% compared to the previous week.
While these levels are encouraging and many may feel the drought is over, the situation is still dire.
Much more rain is still needed in the catchments as the region goes into the dry winter months.
The public is once again called upon to continue saving water.
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