Vaal Dam water levels improve

DATA: HARTBEESPOORT ONE OF THE BETTER PERFORMERS

- Enkosi Selane

Critical low water levels at the Vaal Dam have improved after the overflow gates at Grootdraai Dam in Mpumalanga were opened this week.

The development comes as recent data shows varying performances across South Africa's major dams during the festive season.

According to the department of water and sanitation's weekly report on Monday, the Vaal Dam is at 24.3% capacity.

This is a concerning drop from 67.4% recorded in the same period last year.

The dam, which is crucial to the Integrated Vaal River System (IVRS) that supplies Gauteng, had been losing about 1.5 percentage points weekly until December.

Hartbeespoort Dam is one of the better performers, currently at 97.6% capacity, showing improvement from 93.9% last year and 96.2% last week.

Loskop Dam in Mpumalanga has maintained relatively stable levels at 78.1%, though down from 100.9% last year.

The massive Gariep Dam, South Africa's largest reservoir, is currently at 71.1% capacity, a significant decrease from 106.2% recorded last year.