There is no need to panic about drought — unless the rain stays away for another two months, the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry said in Pretoria on Friday.
Director General of Water Affairs and Forestry Mike Muller said dam levels over most parts of the country are quite high, with only reservoirs in the Western Cape, Gauteng and areas of Limpopo being slightly low.
”But it is still quite early in a season that started late,” he said.
Muller said the department is reviewing the state of the Vaal River system to see if water restrictions in Gauteng will be necessary.
Already parts of the Western Cape — which had a particularly dry winter rainfall season — has had water consumption restricted.
Muller said Gauteng will know by the end of the month whether it will face similar restrictions.
While most of the province’s dams are more than 60% full, Gauteng’s reservoirs are only 36,5% full — 21,8% less than the Western Cape’s dams.
The Vaal Dam, on November 1, was measured at 35,5% of capacity — 1% less than the previous week’s figure.
”But what people tend to forget that is that just upstream we have the Sterkfontein Dam — which is larger than the Vaal and is now 98,4% full,” Muller explained.
The department also noted that dams in Lesotho are only 54,3% full, but Muller said this should not raise too much concern as there are various new dams that are still filling up.
Lesotho supplies much of South Africa’s water through the Lesotho Highland Water Project.
The Lesotho Highland Water Project, Africa’s largest civil engineering project, involves the construction of five dams in Lesotho’s Maluti Highlands. These are due for completion in 2020.
An estimated 40% of the water — described as white gold — will be channelled into South Africa through the Senqunyane River basin and the Ash River into the Vaal Dam, 70km south of Johannesburg.
The department said dams in the Northern Cape are the fullest at 89,3%, with those in the Eastern Cape second at 71,8%.
Gauteng is the country’s driest province, closely followed by the Western Cape and Mpumalanga (58,6%).
The South African Weather Service warned in August of a hot and dry summer, owing to an El Nino weather phenomenon. — Sapa