The official dam level stats in the Western Cape remain GOOD despite the summer season nearing its end. Image: X @ReenvalSA
The official dam level stats in the Western Cape remain GOOD despite the summer season nearing its end. Image: X @ReenvalSA
What a difference a day makes. The Cape Town dam levels were already onto a winner this week, following sustained periods of torrential downpours and even a few snow flurries. The water has made its way to the local water storage facilities, and boy, are things looking up for the drought-threatened region.
The panic of “day zero” from 2017 seems like a distant memory now. In the past week alone, the Cape Town dam levels have increased by almost 8% – but a large chunk of that can be put down to what happened on Monday. In one solitary day, the dam levels spiked by another 2.3% – taking its total capacity to 86% on Tuesday. This number is likely to rise as we head into Wednesday afternoon.
The severe weather has caused havoc for many local residents, but they can take comfort in the fact that their water supply is now sitting at a six-year high: Readings this good haven’t been seen since 2014, and the Cape Town dam levels are also more than 5% better off than they were at this point last year.
Dam | Percentage full on 17 August | Percentage full on 18 August |
Berg River | 101.2% | 101.9% |
Steenbras Lower | 91.7% | 93.4% |
Steenbras Upper | 100.9% | 100.8% |
Theewaterskloof | 80.7% | 82.8% |
Voëlvlei | 76.6% | 81.3% |
Wemmershoek | 80.5% | 81.6% |
Total water stored (Ml) | 754 690 | 774 931 |
Combined Cape Town dam levels | 84% | 86.3% |
Xanthea Limberg is a member of the Cape Town Mayoral Committee. She hinted that these exceptional levels might lead to a decrease in water restrictions for the province – but it’s dependent on future forecasts.
“Future rainfall is uncertain and new water sources are still in development. A decision on restriction levels for the 2020/2021 hydrological year will be taken on review of the rainy season at the end of August.”
“Tariffs for the new financial year, starting July 1, will be set only to recoup the expected costs of operations/maintenance, and as usual will therefore be significantly determined by anticipated volumes of water consumed by residents and business.”
Xanthea Limberg