Not yet out of the woods

Although the steady decline in dam levels indicates that the “drought is still upon us”, there are some much welcomed increases in dam levels in the Amathole District.

This is according to the latest report issued by the Department of Water and Sanitation.

Sputnik Ratau, departmental spokesman, said: “This week the total storage of water in Eastern Cape is at 60.7%, compared to last week where the average dam levels were at 61.1%, a clear sign that the drought is still upon us.”

Ratau said recent rains had contributed to the rise of some dam levels in the province.

“The Bridle Drift Dam gained 15.0% from the recent rains from 59.6% to 74.6 % this week. The Nahoon Dam also gained 18.6% from 79.5% last year at this time to 98.1% this week.”

Ratau said the Gcuwa dam, which serves Butterworth, looked promising as it sat at 80.7% this week, an increase of 1.1% from this time last year.

The report showed that the Tsomo dam located under the Ncora reservoir in the Chris Hani area sat at 98.8% this year, a huge increase of 53.7% from 45.1% last year.

It is not all good news though as dams in the Algoa system which serves the Nelson Mandela Metro continue to decline.

“The Kouga dam in the Algoa System is sitting at 11.7%, compared to 12.8% last week, this is an indication that our systems are struggling very hard. The Impofu Dam is battling to gain water and is sitting at 47.3% this week, compared to 78.0% in the previous year this time,” said Ratau.