'Years' for Theewaterskloof dam to recover from drought

04 February 2018 - 00:00 By BOBBY JORDAN

Cape Town's biggest dam is now so low that it will take a major flood just to saturate the sand - and officials have been urged not to count on significant storage for years to come.
Theewaterskloof dam near Villiersdorp provides about half of Cape Town's water. This week it was just 12.9% full. Farmers have exhausted their allocation and officials are preparing to dredge channels to get access to the remaining water.
Experts said the once-overflowing dam risked becoming obsolete in the short term due to the enormous amount of sediment now exposed to the elements.
"We have a dam that is now desiccated," said Anthony Turton, a water scientist and former specialist at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research...

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