Five sluice gates at the Vaal Dam are seen open, 5 January 2022. The opening of the sluice gates follows consistent heavy rains over the past few weeks in catchments supporting the Integrated Vaal River System and Orange River. Picture: Michel Bega
The Vaal Dam remains above full capacity, despite a steady decline over recent days.
The latest readings show water levels at 101.26% as of Wednesday.
Dam maintains overflow levels amid decreased inflow
This is a gradual decrease from 101.64% recorded on Monday to 101.54% on Tuesday, according to The Reservoir, a Water Resource Information Centre for the Catchment Management Forums of the Upper Vaal Water Management Area.
The dam’s inflow has fluctuated over the three-day period, dropping from 64.9m3/s on Monday to 37.0m3/s by Wednesday.
Meanwhile, outflow has remained consistent at 21.4m3/s throughout this period, with no gates currently open at the facility.
Water temperatures at the Vaal Barrage have remained relatively stable, hovering between 23.0°C and 23.5°C, while the barrage level has held steady at 7.5 metres across all three days monitored.
ALSO READ: Here’s what level the Vaal Dam stands at this week
Significant year-on-year improvement in water storage
Current water levels are higher than at the same time last year, when the dam was at 61.8%.
The Department of Water and Sanitation’s weekly report from last week recorded the dam at 101.6%, indicating the facility has consistently maintained overflow levels.
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