The Theewaterskloof Dam stands at 100% capacity. Picture: Ayanda Ndamane Independent Newspapers
Cape Town - Several days of torrential rainfall have resulted in most dams being either full or nearly full in the Western Cape.
Wouter Kriel, spokesperson for Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning MEC Anton Bredell, said that from a water security perspective, this was “very good news”.
“No noticeable decline has been reported yet, and it seems like we may also receive more rain in the coming days, which will also be positive for dam levels,” Kriel said.
Current levels for some of the major dams in the Western Cape Water Supply System were: Berg River 101.%; Steenbras Lower 102.4%; Steenbras Upper 101%; Theewaterskloof 100%; Voelvlei 78.5%; and Wemmershoek 98.6%.
In the first 15 days of July, the Wemmershoek Dam exceeded its record of 433.5mm of rainfall since 1992, with 460mm recorded.
Meanwhile, early-morning traffic stalled as the provincial Department of Transport implemented lane closures on the N1 inbound and outbound in the vicinity of Sable Road yesterday.
The City’s assistant traffic chief, Maxine Bezuidenhout, said the wetland area had reached capacity and spilled over on to the roadway.
Last week, the City of Cape Town said that the unprecedented rainfall resulted in Cape Town’s dam levels increasing by 20% in a week and had stood at 95.2%.
Last year this time, dam levels were at 99%.
As a result of severe localised flooding, the City of Cape Town’s Human Settlements directorate issued more than 10 000 flood kits.
About 37 areas across the metro were impacted by the inclement weather. These included Khayelitsha, Lwandle in Strand, Nomzamo, Gugulethu, Masiphumelele, Macassar, Sir Lowry’s Pass, Mfuleni, Tafelsig, Vygieskraal and Ocean View, among others.
shakirah.thebus@inl.co.za
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