After what seemed like a constant looming nightmare just a few years ago with Day Zero haunting us from all sides, dams levels across the Western Cape currently stand just above 80%, thanks to the several bursts of showers over the past few weeks.
Also read: Cape Town dam levels on the increase thanks to the rain parade
As seen on the City’s website, this is a table showing the current dam levels as of 25 August 2022:
Major dams | Storage | |
Ml | % | |
Capacity when full | 25/8/2022 | |
Berg River | 130 010 | 98.9 |
Steenbras Lower | 33 517 | 91.9 |
Steenbras Upper | 31 767 | 91.4 |
Theewaterskloof | 480 188 | 82.1 |
Voëlvlei | 164 095 | 68.5 |
Wemmershoek | 58 644 | 77.5 |
Total Stored Ml | 898 221 | 740 328 |
% Storage | 82.4 |
Mayco Member for Water and Sanitation, Zahid Badroodien, told EWN that for now, the statistics look good and that we still have two-and-a-half months left of the hydrological year.
“Our dams are currently at 81.5% full [at the start of the week], that is as compared to the previous year, same time, which is 98.9%. Now, I know that that number comparison will scare a lot of people and cause a lot of anxiety but we are very far from the end of the hydrological year, which is at the end of October.”
Meanwhile, the Western Cape government said that it was pleased with the latest dam levels as the cold fronts over the past two weeks made a significant contribution to the bigger dams within the province.
Western Cape Government spokesperson Wouter Kriel says “We are very pleased to see an increase in our catchment dams after the recent cold fronts over the Western Cape which brought much-needed rain. The dams supplying Cape Town has increased from 76.3% to 81.5%. For the Western Cape province, the total average dam level has increased from 64.5% to 69.2%.”
This is good news from a water security perspective.
However, while the City of Cape Town is also pleased with the current state of our dams in the metro, the public is urged to remain cautious and not celebrate just yet as the end of the rainfall season draws near and we still need more water.
“Our assessments and modeling that have been completed in the last round, show that we will still need 90% at the end of the hydrological year,” says Badroodien. Thus saving water should remain a top priority for all.
Also read: City of Cape Town urges residents to use water sparingly
According to City’s extended weekly water report, dam levels are still significantly lower in comparison to the same time last year when Cape Town stood at 99% and the province at 79%.
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Picture: Cape {town} Etc gallery