Last week’s rain in the Western Cape has brought some welcome relief as major dam levels have steadily improved.
The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) says the increased inflow into rivers was sufficient to also lead to significant inflows into the dams.
The latest dam level assessments on 11 June shows the combined average dam level for the Western Cape Water Supply System (WCWSS) is at 31.51%, compared to 20.97% at the same time last year.
DWS Western Cape Regional Head Rashid Khan says there is a noticeable turnaround in the province, however much more rain is required to significantly increase the dam levels.
“We urge water users, domestic and industries, to continue using water sparingly,” Khan said.
DWS will only consider reducing water restrictions after the province has experienced enough rain.
Western Cape receives its water primarily in winter and with the dams filling earlier, there is hope that the dams will recharge faster.
Theewaterskloof, one of the largest dams supplying Cape Town and surrounding municipalities is at 20.89%.
Misverstand is at 107.79%. Voelvlei has recovered to 25.53% from 22.04% last week.
Clanwilliam dam on the West Coast is also showing an improvement from 14.29% last week to 20.41% this week.
“As DWS we commend those water users that are harvesting rainfall and encourage those that are not harvesting rainfall to do so during this rainfall season,” Khan said.
