Water restrictions still in place as ‘back of the drought is not yet broken’

26 August 2016 - 13:49 By Roxanne Henderson

Though dam levels across the country are steady‚ with some rising slightly‚ strict water restrictions must remain in place. The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) said its latest report on dams this week found that average levels are steady at 53.3% week-on-week.Vaal River dam below 35%, residents are encouraged to #Savewater ^TK pic.twitter.com/9xnIxMt1oH— City of Joburg (@CityofJoburgZA) August 24, 2016asyncRecent rain and snowfall in the Western Cape and Free State have contributed to a small increase in levels‚ it said.“This very slight increase is still insignificant when compared to last year at the same time when the average dam levels were at 72.7%. The back of the drought is therefore still not broken.”The announcement comes as the City of Johannesburg on Friday said its reservoir levels are in a satisfactory position‚ but that water restrictions remain.“Residents are reminded that level-2 water restrictions are still in place and must be adhered to.”Level-2 water restrictions prevent residents from watering their gardens between 8am and 4pm‚ filling their swimming pools with municipal water and using hosepipes to wash cars.The Vaal River system‚ which serves Gauteng‚ decreased 0.2% in the past week‚ the DWS said.In Cape Town‚ the dams system saw its levels increase by 1.3%. Clanwilliam Dam is at 99.9%.Some KwaZulu-Natal dams remain dangerously low‚ despite recent rain‚ it said.The department monitors the country's 211 dams on a weekly basis. Currently 13 dams are less than 10% full‚ while 59 have water levels below 40%.Twenty-three dams are above 100%. TMG Digital..

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