With a heavy downpour over the weekend of July 29 and 30, the Kouga Dam has risen above 50 percent, which has now placed the dam in recovery mode, with hope of reaching the 65 percent mark.
Rienette Colesky, CEO of Gamtoos Irrigation Board, said that as the run-off continues to flow, they are hopeful that the dam level will surpass 55 percent by the end of next week.
However, she said that they will have to wait to see what impact the run-off has on the dam as the effect is only seen over time.
“It is like a weather prediction. For example, if we see that Stuurmanskraal measures about 15 cubic metres – which is about 15 000 litres per second; it might affect the dam by 0.8 percent a day. The increase in dam levels also depends on how long the level of the run-off will last,” said Colesky.
“Since we read the levels every day, we can only predict about two to three days ahead as to what the dam level will be.”
Colesky said that the Kouga Dam was at 100 percent in 2015 and has continued to decrease since, with the last measurement above 65 percent being measured on October 11, 2016, at 65.01 percent.
She further said that in 2018 a rain event resulted in the dam being pushed up to 55 percent; however they have not measured above 55 percent since.
Fortunately, the current dam level is at 50.53 percent as of August 2.
The rainfall for July 29 and 30 in the catchment areas was as follows, Krakeel Hoek – 90mm, Tamie – 37mm, Krakeel – 61mm, Joubertina – 30mm, Kouga Kleinrivier – 42mm, Stuurmanskraal – 29.4mm and Kouga – 29mm.
Further elaborating on the impact of the rain for the month of July, Riaan Strydom, a resident in the Langkloof catchment area, said that the total amount of rain measured in the catchment areas which supplies the Kouga Dam were, Krakeel Hoek – 302mm, Tamie – 91mm, Krakeel – 129mm, and Joubertina – 92.7mm.
Colesky said that on August 1 they found that at Stuurmanskraal, a measuring weir in the Kouga region, they were able to measure 16 800 litres per second of water flowing, while just 11 days before on July 21 they measured 8 900 litres per second of water flowing.
“These measurements tell us that we had quite a bit of rain in the catchments which affected the dam level over the past month,” said Colesky.
She said that the dam is recovering from the drought and as predicted through predictive modelling, the dam will most probably have recovered when it reaches 65 percent.
As previously reported, after the annual water restriction negotiations on June 30, it was decided that for the Kouga-Loerie system domestic users receive a water allocation of 80 percent and are restricted by 20 percent.
Colesky said that they see an ample amount of water in the dams; however, the current state of restrictions does not fit the recovery rate of the water sources.
“Questions should be asked as to whether restrictions should be as strict as they are, but we also need to understand that our water sources are in the process of recovering,” said Colesky.
She said that even though they are familiar with the restrictions, which are yet to be gazetted by the South African government, they are uncertain as to when these restrictions will be re-considered.
Despite the heavy rain and gale force winds on July 30, the spokesperson for the Department of Transport, Unathi Binqose, said that there was no substantial damage caused and no bridges or roads that had washed away in the Eastern Cape.
However, he said that there was a mudslide on the R102 between Plaatjies Drift and Leeubos in the direction of Humansdorp, and trees had fallen into the road in various areas.
“The trees were quickly removed, and the mudslide was also cleared on the same day,” said Binqose.
According to the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality, as of August 2, dam levels were as follows, Churchill – 68.82 percent, Impofu – 13.98 percent, Loerie – 100 percent, Kouga – 50.53 percent and Groendal – 100 percent. The combined percentage is 41.67.
