Western Cape dams at 10-year high thanks to heavy winter rains

23rd October 2023 By: News24Wire

Western Cape dam levels are at a 10-year record high after a winter of heavy rains and severe weather conditions.

Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) spokesperson Wisane Mavasa said the Western Cape received significant rainfall, causing some dams to overflow.

She said the latest hydrological report showed that most Western Cape river catchments were hovering above 90% – levels last seen 10 years ago.

Theewaterskloof Dam, the largest dam, accounting for 54% of the water supply in the province, is sitting at 100% – compared to 26.97% at the height of the City of Cape Town's Day Zero water crisis.

However, the heavy rains brought widespread destruction to parts of the province, prompting the provincial government to launch two applications to declare a provincial state of disaster. Flooding in September caused damage of nearly R1.4-billion in the agricultural sector, and flooding in May/June resulted in unfunded damages of more than R700-million.

In the latest severe weather to lash the province this weekend, the Garden Route experienced heavy rains that resulted in mudslides, flooding and road closures.

Several rivers flooded, including the Great Brak River and the Kouma River in Ruiterbos.

The George municipality said it had to fell and remove six trees and clear three mudslides.

After a mudslide on Saturday, the N2 highway was closed at Kaaimans Pass.

It was reopened a day later after the George Fire Brigade and other departments from the George municipality had to use excavators and chainsaws to remove earth, rock and other debris from the road.

Mop-up operations and efforts to restore electricity to areas that experienced outages are still in progress.