Western Cape dam levels continue to rise

25 June 2018 - 16:24 By Timeslive
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The dams feeding the City of Cape Town are now at 42.3%‚ compared to 24.2% in 2017.
The dams feeding the City of Cape Town are now at 42.3%‚ compared to 24.2% in 2017.
Image: Johnny Miller

The sustained winter rainfall has seen dam levels in the Western Cape continue to rise.

The average level for dams across the Western Cape for the week starting on Monday was 36.3%‚ compared to 22.8% for the same period last year.

Last week at this time the level was 31.5%. The dams feeding the City of Cape Town are now at 42.3%‚ compared to 24.2% in 2017.

Over the past week these dam levels increased by 4.5%.

However‚ Western Cape minister of Local Government‚ Environmental Affairs and Development Planning Anton Bredell urged the public to continue to avoid becoming complacent when it comes to water usage.

“The drought is not over and the dams are still quite low‚ despite the very welcome relief and continued increases. We must continue to adhere to water restrictions and reduce water demand.

“The lower water usage patterns we’ve been seeing over the past year must be the new normal. Permanent behaviour change that is geared towards sustainable use of our limited resources must become the new norm‚” he said.

From March 2018 to June 2018 Theewaterskloof Dam has shown a remarkable change thanks to rains blessing the Western Cape. Here’s a comparison from the ground over the past three months.


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