Has somebody pulled the plug on the Vaal Dam? No, but it does need some serious topping up.
That’s the message from the two main marinas at the dam, about 100km from Johannesburg, which are battling low water levels resulting in berthed vessels running out of water.
But unlike previous low water periods, when other dams along the Vaal river were similarly affected, this time the Vaal is going it alone due largely to a water infrastructure issue, say stakeholders.
“The problem at the Vaal Dam is almost exclusively down to the closure of the pipe that feeds water from the Katse Dam into the Vaal river system,” explained Greg Pilling from Bayshore Marina.
“With the late/low rains the Vaal Dam would normally have been augmented by water from Katse and there would not be a massive drop in the water levels, if at all. The refurbishing of the pipe is slated to be completed in March next year, fingers crossed, at which point I would expect that the dam will be filled again, if it hasn’t already been filled by the summer rains.”
In the meantime the water is rapidly disappearing. “I can remember probably three times in the last 30-plus years that Bayshore Marina has been in existence where the levels have been really low, and only once at the current levels.”
As a result boat owners were scrambling to sustain water access.
The department of water and sanitation's latest dam levels report issued on Monday said the dam had dropped to 30.8% full.
“Yachts have to be continually moved into deeper water and placed on swing moorings or slipped (lifted out) and stored on the hard (land). Fortunately Bayshore Marina has the largest lifting crane and lifting dock to accommodate even the largest boats. We routinely inform owners of the water levels and advise when they should take them out the water.
“It works seamlessly and we were able to help with yachts from all around the dam,” Pilling said. “While there is no getting away from the fact that the business impact is considerable, and especially for Bayshore which is the largest custom-built inland marina in South Africa, I believe this time round it is more of an anomaly than part of a pattern.”
Climatologists concurred that the dam level was unlikely to be related to drought conditions or the El Nino weather phenomenon linked with below-average rainfall in the north of the country. The country is subject to a weak La Nina phase, with the El Nino having dissipated earlier this year.
Most big boats at Manten Marina in Deneysville are on trailers or cradles due to the low water, said marina owner Kathy Manten. “We are unable to launch or slip boats at the moment.
“The sad thing is, for all those whose boats are out of the water, they have no idea how long it will take before they can go sailing again. This is not great for business at the clubs and marinas and it even affects businesses in the rest of the town. If people can’t use their boats, they do not come down to the dam,” said Manten.
“Racing is being hampered with many no-go areas and some of the fixed marks on the dam are high and dry or in too little water to use. Many of the smaller yachts are dry sailed and launched prior to the event; now, they can’t get their boats in the water and so numbers on the start line are also affected.”
The low dam level is all the more remarkable considering the Vaal Dam was close to its 100-year flood level at 118% full at the end of summer last year, and the marinas all flooded.
Fortunately for boat owners there is a forecast of good rain ahead. “My forecasts indicate above-normal summer rainfall totals over the Vaal catchment,” said University of Pretoria professor Willem Landman from the department of geography, geoinformatics and meteorology.
Landman, however, cautioned that the forecast may be unreliable: “Owing to the expected weak state of La Nina the rainfall forecasts are less confident than would have been the case with a stronger La Nina event.”
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