The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) has called on Mpumalanga residents to use the available water the province has, wisely and sparingly, as dam levels record a marginal decrease from last week’s 86.0% to 85.1% in the current week.
In a statement on Thursday, the department urged residents to fix and report water leaks.
A weekly status of dam levels report issued by the department also shows a decrease in the Water Management Areas (WMA).
The Olifants WMA dropped from 78.0% to 77.0% and the Inkomati-Usuthu WMA dropped from 87.5% to 87.0%.
In terms of the districts, Ehlanzeni dropped from 86.5% to 85.4%, Gert Sibande dropped from 83.9% to 83.4%, and Nkangala dropped from 89.1% to 87.7%.
The department noted that there are no improvements recorded in most dams across the province, with only a few dams remaining unchanged and the majority recording declines.
The listed dams which recorded declines in water levels in Ehlanzeni District and the Lowveld include Blyderivierpoort from 79.0% to 76.6%,
Buffelskloof from 66.7% to 63.6%, Witklip from 83.8% to 82.1%, Kwena from 82.1% to 79.9%, Da Gama from 89.6% to 87.8%, Inyaka from 89.9% to 88.7%, and Ohrigstad from 35.0% to 29.9%.
The dams that remained unchanged in the Lowveld include Driekoppies Dam at 92.7%, Longmere at 91.1%, Klipkopjes at 85.4%, and Primkop at 50.8%.
In Gert Sibande District, Grootdraai Dam dropped from 77.1% to 76.0%, Nooitgedacht from 79.8% to 79.2%, Vygeboom from 98.1% to 96.9%, and Westoe from 36.4% to 36.0%.
All the listed dams in the Nkangala District continue to decrease in water volumes with Witbank Dam further dropping from 92.5% to 91.0%, Middelburg Dam from 85.4% to 84.3%, Loskop Dam from 90.2% to 88.5%, and Rhenosterkop Dam from 86.1% to 85.5%.
Source: South African Government News Agency