KwaZulu-Natal residents urged to use water sparingly amid dam levels decline
The Department of Water and Sanitation in KwaZulu-Natal has called on residents to continue using water sparingly as the province’s water storage capacity had declined from last week’s 87.4% to 86.5%.
Nagle Dam on the Mgeni River has decreased from 91.6% to 84.2% and Woodstock Dam on the Tugela River has also declined from 100.2% to 93.0%. Unchanged are the Craigie Burn, Mearns and Zaaihoek Dams. Recording 100.4%, 56.0% and 90.6% respectively.
Meanwhile, the province’s main water supply system, Umgeni, has also marginally dropped from last week’s 96.4% to 95.8% in the current week. Midmar Dam on the system has seen a minimal decrease from 93.0% to 92.6%. Albert-Falls Dam is at 94.9% from 95.1% recorded in the previous week. While the Inanda and Ntshingwayo Dams stand at 100.9% and 72.8% respectively. The dams recorded 101.3% and 73.4% in the previous week.
The Department has reiterated its plea to residents to fix and report water leaks to their local municipalities as a means to preserve the available water in the province. This is as the Department continues to work with its entities, Mhlathuze and Umgeni Water through the implementation of bulk water projects which are aimed at addressing water scarcity concerns in different parts of the province.
One such a project is the uMkhomazi Water Project which is set to benefit the eThekwini Metro, Msunduzi, uMgungundlovu,Ugu, Ilembe and Harry Gwala Districts. The project will transfer water from the uMkhomazi River to augment the uMgeni Water Supply System which supplies domestic water to more than 5 million people and industries in South Africa’s third largest regional economy.
The Department has emphasised the need for prudent water use even as above average rainfall is predicted by the South African Weather Service in the upcoming summer season.
“In as much as we are anticipating bucket loads of rainfall in the coming months, it remains important that we ensure that every drop of water used is accounted for. What Climate Change has taught us over the years is extreme weather patterns. So, we might have water in abundance today and gone the next day,” said the Department’s spokesperson Sputnik Ratau.
“One thing we must all keep in mind is that dams are used to store water and therefore, with the unpredictable extreme weather patterns, the stored water can evaporate throughout the summer season. In essence, the rainfall forecast is not an assurance that our dams will remain full. We need to make every drop count,” he concluded.
Source: Government of South Africa