9 depressingly beautiful pictures of Cape Town’s biggest dam

It’s getting desperate, Cape Town.

The City of Cape Town announced the latest dam levels, and it’s not positive. As it stands, the Western Cape dam storage system has just over 25% capacity left. The largest dam in the system, the Theewaterskloof, is just 21% full.

Calling this situation a “glass half empty” is being generous.

We’ve seen a number of videos from vloggers and drone pilots in the past few weeks documenting the drought from the air, but sometimes, a still image from the ground is so much more shocking than a moving picture.

With that in mind, we took to Instagram to see exactly what users are capturing. The results are both desperately sad, and undeniably beautiful.

Cape Town’s Theewaterskloof Dam according to Instagram

In case you are wondering if the water crisis in the Cape is all just a big hype…. this is a photo of Theewaterskloof this afternoon. The dust you see blowing is actually the sand that is usually covered in water. Peeps, please, every drop counts. 💧 💦 ☀️#Theewaterskloof #theewaterskloofdam #watercrisis #kfm @kfmza

A post shared by Lynde Opperman 🌍 (@lyndes_life) on Apr 2, 2017 at 12:34pm PDT

#theewaterskloof 🇿🇦 #iphone #silverefexpro #retro #grain #blur #landscape #bnw_art #mountains #misty #bnw_masters #monoart #decisivemoment #picoftheday #instacool #landscapelovers #bnw #bnw_art #likeastraydog #beach #noiretblanc #iphone7plus #middleofnowhere #lensculture #blackandwhiteisworththefight #landscapephotography #landscapephotomag #southafrica

A post shared by © A N T O N V A N Z Y L (@flying.antz) on Mar 18, 2017 at 12:26pm PDT

Theewaterskloof Dam – taken from the bridge. In all this political mayhem- don’t forget about our water crisis- SAVE WATER. #savewater #waterwise #drought #damlevels #duststorm #theewaterskloof #capetown #westerncape

A post shared by Cathy Lane Milner (@cathymilnerart) on Apr 2, 2017 at 10:52pm PDT

A post shared by Oscar Saunderson (@oscarsaunderson) on Mar 28, 2017 at 12:18am PDT

This was once a full dam. Now it is a sandstorm. #theewaterskloofdam #savewater

A post shared by Danel Morkel (@danellie_m) on Apr 2, 2017 at 10:06am PDT

#inthedesert🌵 #theewaterskloofdam #prayforrain #overberg

A post shared by George Kloppers (@gkloppers) on Mar 19, 2017 at 4:28am PDT

#pictureoftheday #picoftheday #dailypic #theewaterskloof #theewaterskloofdam #hdr #igerscapetown #instagood #watershortage

A post shared by @djfhead on Mar 30, 2017 at 11:26pm PDT

#inthedesert🌵 #theewaterskloofdam #prayforrain #overberg

A post shared by George Kloppers (@gkloppers) on Mar 19, 2017 at 4:26am PDT

And this was the Theewaterskloof Dam once upon a time…

This is a Spillway in the Theewaterskloof dam close to Villiersdorp I passed by yesterday. The water just over flows into this channel and back under the road into the river. The picture does not really do it justice < very cool in real life > 😉 🌍 #villiersdorp #theewaterskloofdam #westerncape #southafrica #southafricaza #thisissouthafrica #virtualtour #virtualsouthafrica #getoutmoresa #water #explore #roadtrip #travelgram #sunshine #discoverctwc #discoveroverberg #neverstopexploring #mountains

A post shared by Xavier Briel (@xavierbriel) on Jul 30, 2014 at 3:36am PDT