The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) calls on the public to use the available water wisely and sparingly as dam levels in the listed dams in the Lowveld of the Mpumalanga Province continue to drop.

According to the latest DWS weekly state of reservoirs report, the majority of listed dams in the Lowveld and Ehlanzeni District of Mpumalanga Province recorded further declines in water levels with the exception of Longmere, Klipkopjes and Primkop dams which remained unchanged at 75.2%, 81.8% and 39.3%

The rest of the listed dams in the Lowveld which recorded declines in water volumes include Blyderivierpoort dropping from 71.6% to 68.8%, Buffelskloof from 56.7% to 53.3%, Driekoppies from 95.4% to 90.0%, Witklip from 79.2% to 75.7%, Kwena from 74.8% to 72.4%, Da Gama from 86.4% to 84.7%, Inyaka from 86.0% to 84.6%, and Ohrigstad from 23.8% to 20.4%.

In terms of the provincial overview, the report shows that the average dam levels in the Mpumalanga Province recorded dropped from 83.3% to 81.6%. Water levels also continue to drop in the Water Management Areas (WMA) with the Olifants WMA dropping from 75.0% to 74.0% and the Inkomati-Usuthu WMA dropping from 85.4% to 84.1%.

The report also shows that all the three districts of the Mpumalanga Province recorded declines in water levels, with Ehlanzeni dropping from 83.8% to 80.4%, Gert Sibande from 81.8% to 80.8% and Nkangala from 85.4% to 84.1%.

In terms of the districts, Ehlanzeni dropped from 90.7% to 89.6%, Gert Sibande dropped from 86.4% to 85.2%, and Nkangala dropped from 92.0% to 91.1%.

DWS reminds the public that South Africa is a water-scarce country and water has to be used with utmost care and sparingly.

Media enquiries:
Wisane Mavasa, Spokesperson for the Department of Water and Sanitation 
Cell: 060 561 8935 

Themba Khoza 
Cell: 066 301 6962