Rain is not scarce in the Eastern Cape, but water levels keep on declining from the water storages at an average of 53.0% last week, compared to 53.4% the previous week – a decline of 0.4%.
The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) has seen improvement in other areas that were affected by drought in the province.
Amathole District dams have seen an improvement, with Gcuwa Dam moving from 87.7% the previous week (18 to 24 January) to 89.3% last week, Bridle Drift Dam has also improved from 32.3% to 33.8%, and Rooikrantz Dam increased to 100% last week compared to 98.5% the previous week.
Furthermore, Chris Hani District that was declared as the drought stricken area has experienced an improvement in the water levels. Macubeni Dam is sitting at 100%, a big improvement compared to 81.6% in the previous year, Xonxa Dam has risen to 100.3% and Tsojana Dam remains at 100%.
Despite these major improvements, dams supplying Nelson Mandela Bay and Sarah Baartman Districts are not picking up, despite the recent rainfalls. Instead they are declining.
Kouga Dam declined from 8.8% the previous week to 8.4% last week, Loerie Dam dropped from 72.8% to 70.6% and Kromrivier Dam decreased from 53.9% to 52.3%.
DWS encouraged all water users to continue saving water.
