Cape Town’s dams up to 70% but Theewaterskloof lags behind

Cape Town’s dams are now 70% full, this according to the City’s latest dam levels report.

That an increase of just 0.9% over the previous week. Still, it’s the first time this milestone has been reached in September since 2015.

That may seem sufficient, but the largest dam in the system that holds nearly 54% of Cape Town’s surface water, the Theewaterskloof Dam, remains just 52.5% full. It did however gain 1.1% over the previous week.

Other dams however are all above 80% full.

• The Berg River Dam is 97.6% full, but fell by 0.8% over the previous week.
• The Voëlvlei Dam is 83.7% full, increasing by 3.2% over the previous week.
• The Wemmershoek Dam is 90% full, gaining just 0.1% over the previous week.
• The Steenbras Lower and Upper dams have both dropped this week, to 87.5% from 89.4%, and 99% to 95.8%, respectively.

With less than two weeks until the City of Cape Town lessens the Level 6B water restrictions to Level 5, water consumption across the city dropped.

Only 505-million litres per day were used last week, this down from 526-million the previous week.

“As usage has never reached the target of 450 million under Level 6b restrictions and has hovered around 500 million litres per day, which is the target for Level 5 restrictions, the City decided to lower the restriction and tariff to Level 5,” the City wrote in a report.

“This will provide some financial relief to water users and this should reflect in the October municipal accounts.”

Feature image: Theewaterskloof Dam, Jan 2018 by City of Cape Town