The Department of Water and Sanitation has urged communities and businesses to strictly follow water saving measures as dam levels across the country continue to drop due to the drought.<\/p>\n
The department reported on Wednesday that the national storage of 211 dams are now at 49% and still dropping, but at a slower pace than at this time last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Vaal Dam level is at an average of 26.6% and water levels in Western Cape dams are dropping. Dams dropped by 3%,\u201d the department said.<\/p>\n
The Vaal System, which supplies water to 14 dams as well as to Sasol and Eskom, dropped from 49.9% from 17 October 2016 to 49.7% this week. The system was at 68.8% in 2015.<\/p>\n
The Orange River System, which was 55.6% last week, is now at 54.4%.\u00a0Gariep Dam dropped from 55.7% to 51.8%, while Vanderkloof Dam experienced a rise from 55.4% to 58.7%, compared to 71.6% this time last year.<\/p>\n
Some dams in Western Cape continue to drop with Voelvlei dropping from 71.8% to 71.3%, while Berg River gained a little from 72.7% to 73.1%. Theewaterskloof went down from 52% to 51.6%.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Algoa System, with five dams serving Nelson Mandela Bay, has recorded a drop from 70.1% to 69.3%, compared to 100.2% last year. Amatola System, with six dams serving Buffalo City, dropped from 78% to 77.2%, compared to 99.5% last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Umgeni System, with five dams serving eThekwini and Msunduzi, dropped from 44.2% to 44.1%, compared to 66.2% last year. Nagle Dam was at 69.9% last week and now stands at 69.7%, while Midmar Dam gained a little from 47.3% to 47.7%,\u201d the department said.<\/p>\n
Hazelmere Dam gained from 64.9% to 66% and Pongolapoort is still the same at 37.2%.<\/p>\n
Goedertrouw is still at 20.8%, while the Klipfontein dropped slightly from 11.8% to 11.4%.<\/p>\n
In Bloemfontein, the system gained slightly from 31.2% to 34%.<\/p>\n