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The Department of Water and Sanitation wishes to assure water users in Gauteng and the surrounding areas that the province is not facing an imminent crises of day zero. As the Department tasked with ensuring water security we do not have such a concept as “day zero”, but rather are keen to ensure that the system does not fail.

This is despite the levels of the critically important Vaal Dam hovering under 40%. 

The fact that the Vaal Dam is presently hovering at 30.2% does not mean the province is facing impending severe water shortages that could cause alarm. Accordingly, consumers have no reason to panic as the Department is monitoring the state of the dams, including of that of the Vaal Dam, on a continuous basis. 

As one of the fourteen (14) dams that form part of the Integrated Vaal River System (IVRS). The Vaal Dam should not be seen in isolation but within the context of the System which is in a relatively stable state, floating above the neutral 50% mark at 55.4%. 

It is important to note that some of the dams within the IVRS, the biggest System in the country, supporting the crucial heartbeat of South Africa’s economy, Gauteng, are at comfortable levels. The department has not had to even tap into the IVRS’s reserve dam, the Sterkfontein Dam which is at 94,3%. Another, the Grootdraai Dam is currently at 75,9%, and the Bloemhof Dam is at 86,2%.

As the country anticipates downpours in the next few weeks and months, the Department urges consumers to use water responsibly, conscious of the fact that South African is a water-scarce country.

Issued by the Department of Water & Sanitation