Cape Town’s third largest and youngest dam, the Berg River Dam, is the first of the city’s large dams to hit the 100% mark.
After a week of cold weather and rain, the dam gained 2.8% putting it over its specified capacity of 130 000 megalitres.
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It now joins its northerly Western Cape neighbour, the Clanwilliam Dam, in breaching the 100% mark this week.
Interestingly, based on percentage of capacity, the Misverstrand Dam is currently the Western Cape’s most bountiful dam, holding 113.6% of its designed capacity. It’s commonly used for water sport and recreation.
The Steenbras Upper, Steenbras Lower, and Wemmershoek dams are all above the 90% mark, while the Voëlvlei Dam is currently at 88.9%. It was just 26.7% last year.
However, while there is good news in abundance, there are nonetheless signals that Cape Town’s plight isn’t completely over.
The Theewaterskloof Dam is just 55.4% full, holding nearly a third of the total surface water stored by the city’s dams.
In the eastern Western Cape too, not much of a recovery has been noted either.
Beaufort West’s Gamka Dam remains completely empty, while the Oukloof Dam north of Oudtshoorn is just 0.5% full.
Feature image: City of Cape Town
