According to the Department of Water and Sanitation, the recent rainfall experienced in some parts of the Eastern Cape over the last week has helped improve the state of water levels, especially the Algoa Water Supply System which is meant to supply water to the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality.
In a statement released by the department on August 10, it said that the System, which had emptied for extended periods over the last few years due to the dire impact of drought, has increased from 40.1 percent to 44.7 percent.
“This time last year, it stood at a low 15.1 percent,” the statement said.
It further said that the Kouga Dam has increased from last week’s 48.4 percent to 54.6 percent.
Kromrivier Dam located on the Krom River is slightly up from 65.6 percent to 72.7 percent while Impofu Dam has remained low at 15.9 percent from last week’s 13.2 percent.
The department said that Loerie and Groendal dams have recorded above percentages at 100.5 percent and 100.9 percent respectively.
Meanwhile, the Amathole Water Supply System which supplies water to Buffalo City Metro and Amathole District has retained its 100 percent full capacity, like the previous week.
“Most dams which get water from the Amathole System are also standing at above average levels,” the statement said.
Briddle Drift Dam is full at 101.3 percent this week, a slight declined from 101.8 percent last week, Nahoon Dam shifted little bit from 98.7 percent last week to 98.2 percent this week, and Laing Dam is unchanged at 100 percent this week.
“Despite the province’s water storage capacity recording 81.5 percent from last week’s 81.0 percent, the department has urged residents to continue using water sparingly as it rolls out a number of bulk water infrastructure projects which are aimed at addressing water scarcity concerns in different parts of the province,” the statement said.
The statement further said that one of the projects will be the Tsomo Bulk Water Supply Project which is a cross boundary bulk water supply project which entails the abstraction of water from the Tsomo River, to service the Chris Hani District Municipality (Intsika Yethu and Engcobo communities), Amathole District Municipality as well as the Mquma Local Municipality.
According to the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality, the dam levels as of August 10 are as follows, Churchill – 73.86 percent, Impofu – 16.21 percent, Loerie – 98.65 percent, Kouga 56.2 percent and Groendal – 100 percent. The combined percentage is 45.66 percent.
