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Due to recent heavy rainfall, water experts predict that at least two dams in the Western Cape could be filled within the next few days. Dr Kevin Winter, professor and water expert at the University of Cape Town, said: “As you know, we are currently experiencing heavy rainfall, causing the majority of major dams to overflow. Both Theewaterskloof (which was 77% full when I last checked) and Voelvlei (just over 50% full) are consistently full. “These two dams are the only ones that have not reached 100%. Theewaterskloof will benefit from the rainfall that has fallen over the past 24 hours, but it will be several days before we can verify how much inflows have increased.
Western Cape dam level
“Voelvlei is currently unknown as the recent cold front has brought heavy rainfall to the Southern Cape, but I won’t see any data from the last 24 hours until late tomorrow. In any case, after a heavy rain, it takes several days for the dams to fill with water. Winter said the City’s water dashboard includes information about the Western Cape water storage system dating back to 2008. “Since 2008, there have been six cases of water storage dams being completely filled. The last time the entire storage level was at 100% was in 2014,” he noted.
| Dam | River | FSC | This week | Last week | Last year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bellair Dam | Brak River | 4.3 | #33.6 | 33.6 | 5.3 |
| Berg River Dam | Berg River | 127.1 | 102.7  | 101.9 | 69.1 |
| Brandvlei Dam | Lower Brandvlei River | 286.1 | 53.8 | 48.0 | 36.6 |
| Buffeljags Dam | Buffeljags River | 4.6 | 102.8 | 102.8 | 99.3 |
| Bulshoek Dam | Olifants River | 4.9 | 88.6 | 79.1 | 50.8 |
| Calitzdorp Dam | Nels River | 4.9 | 100.4  | 100.7 | 75.1 |
| Ceres Dam | Koekedou River | 17.3 | 60.2 | 47.3 | 57.5 |
| Clanwilliam Dam | Olifants River | 122.5 | 53.3 | 20.8 | 25.9 |
| De Bos Dam | Onrus River | 5.8 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 73.5 |
| Duiwenhoks Dam | Duiwenhoks River | 6.2 | 100.9 | 101.1 | 99.9 |
| Eikenhof Dam | Palmiet River | 28.9 | 105.6 | 105.6 | 57.9 |
| Elandskloof Dam | Elands River | 11.0 | 98.5 | 74.9 | 29.8 |
| Ernest Robertson Dam | Groot Brak River | 0.5 | 101.1 | 101.4 | 96.8 |
| Floriskraal Dam | Buffalo River | 48.3 | 28.1 | 27.4 | 23.4 |
| Gamka Dam | Gamka River | 1.8 | 99.9 | 99.8 | 100.0 |
| Gamkapoort Dam | Gamka River | 35.8 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 79.7 |
| Garden Route Dam | Swat River | 10.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 88.8 |
| Haarlem Dam | Groot River | 4.7 | 101.0 | 100.8 | 66.2 |
| Hartebeestkuil Dam | Hartenbos River | 7.2 | 33.0 | 5.8 | 6.3 |
| Kammanassie Dam | Kammanassie River | 34.4 | 33.2 | 30.8 | 3.8 |
| Keerom Dam | Nuy River | 9.8 | #100.0 | #100.0 | 17.4 |
| Klipberg Dam | Konings River | 2.0 | 100.1 | 99.9 | 54.1 |
| Klipheuwel Dam | Hartenbos River tributary | 4.5 | 57.0 | 52.6 | 15.8 |
| Korentepoort Dam | Korinte River | 8.1 | 100.8 | 100.9 | 87.8 |
| Kwaggaskloof Dam | Cua River | 169.5 | 52.3 | 46.6 | 37.4 |
| Lakenvallei Dam | Sanddrifskloof River | 10.5 | 87.3 | 85.0 | 81.6 |
| Leeugamka Dam | Willow River | 13.6 | 60.5 | 60.8 | 80.9 |
| Miertjieskraal Dam | Brand River | 1.5 | 100.5 | 100.7 | 70.5 |
| Misverstand Dam | Berg River | 5.7 | 133.3 | 132.3 | 102.8 |
| Oukloof Dam | Cordiers River | 4.2 | 19.0 | 14.6 | 6.1 |
| Pietersfontein Dam | Pietersfontein River | 2.0 | #87.8 | 87.8 | 19.6 |
| Poortjieskloof Dam | Groot River | 9.8 | #4.0 | 4.0 | 3.8 |
| Prinsrivier Dam | Prins River | 2.3 | #96.6 | 96.6 | 80.0 |
| Roode Els Berg Dam | Sanddrifskloof River | 7.8 | 46.8 | 33.6 | 16.6 |
| Roodefontein Dam | Piesang River | 2.0 | 84.5 | 81.2 | 92.5 |
| Steenbras-Lower Dam | Steenbras River | 33.9 | 94.9 | 84.2 | 58.4 |
| Steenbras-Upper Dam | Steenbras River | 31.9 | 102.3 | 102.0 | 82.6 |
| Stettynskloof Dam | Holsloot River | 14.8 | 106.1 | 105.4 | 42.4 |
| Stompdrift Dam | Olifants River | 46.3 | 23.6 | 23.3 | 20.8 |
| Thewaterskloof Dam | River Riversonderend | 479.3 | 76.7 | 63.8 | 66.1 |
| Tierkloof Dam | Seweweekspoort tributary | 0.1 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 99.1 |
| Voelvlei Dam | Voelvlei River | 158.6 | 54.1 | 45.9 | 55.9 |
| Wemmershoek Dam | Wemmers River | 58.8 | 97.1 | 83.9 | 47.8 |
| Wolwedans Dam | Groot Brak River | 24.7 | 100.2 | 100.3 | 84.2 |
total | 1865.7 | 68.7 | 60.0 | 51.1 | |
According to the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS), the water storage capacity of Western Cape dams has increased by 11% since this time last year and experts predict further increases in the coming days. According to DWS, the slow pace of filling the province’s dams caused significant alarm for water consumers earlier this year. Naturally, the dam water level at that time was much lower than two years ago. The condition of Western Cape water storage dams has worsened over the past two weeks due to torrential rain across the region. The total maximum capacity of dams in the Cape Town system is 79.31%, up from 63.92% at this time last year. According to “The Western Cape State of Dams”, the total storage capacity of all dams monitored by DWS in the province is 68.71%, an increase of more than 11% compared to the previous year. Thirteen dams saw water levels increase by more than 5%, including Ceres, Bulshoek, Karee and Kwaggaskloof dams.
The fact that no dams were brought down this week is encouraging. Although the Gouritz Basin receives a fair amount of rainfall, the Coastal Belt receives most of its rainfall in the summer. “Ten dams in the basin – mostly agricultural dams – are operating at 100% capacity. Theewaterskloof Dam, which supplies water to 54% of the dams in the Western Cape Water Supply System and is the largest dam in the province, was at 76.67% yield, a respectable yield for this time of year. The agency is watching how reservoirs across the province are filling up. Stella Nake, senior forecaster with the South African weather service, predicts that recent rains will have a significant impact on dam levels in the Western Cape. So stay tuned to PKB news for more updates.
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Source: Tekmonk Bio
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