Vaal Dam levels

schumi

schumi

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Johannesburg - If it doesn't rain in the next few weeks, residents of Gauteng, North West and Mpumalanga could face water shortages and stricter water restrictions.

Concerns are rising as the levels of the Vaal Dam continue to drop drastically due to the drought.

The dam supplies around 12 million South Africans, and as of Wednesday, the water level was at only 33.8 percent full. This time last year, it was at around 74 percent full.

The Star spent Wednesday on the Deneysville side of the Vaal Dam in the Free State, where the dire situation was visible. Where there should have been deep water, there was only sand, dead fish and barren, cracked land, with the banks of the Vaal starting only near the middle of the dam.

The hardest hit by the drought are fishermen and those in the boat business. Among them is Rusty Dlomo, 36, a father-of-two, who said the fishing business was suffering terribly.

"This time last year I was able to catch between 20 and 30 large fish a day. I would sell most of them and also take some home to feed my family.

"Now I'm only able to get two or three if I'm lucky. They're small and I can't sell them or make a living off them. This is my only income, we're struggling," he said.

"In January, the water still reached all the way up to the houses," he said.
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More at: http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/gauteng/low-vaal-dam-water-levels-are-scary-2061092
 
ANC still blaming van riebeck for making the dam too big; would still be full if he made it half the size??
 
^ Wall the dam in half and make two smaller ones. ANC logic :D
 
People wasting water doesn't help. I watched somebody today turn the tap on full blast at the sink, splash is face briefly, stare at the mirror for a few minutes while the tap was still running, then splash his face again, then back to staring in the mirror...and so on...it all adds up.
 
Fascinates me how people are unaware of how much water they waste.

Washing the driveway with a hose is really irresponsible too. Hate it when I see that.
 
It would be far easier to improve pipe maintenance than to change the habits of 55 million people.
 
What bull**** scaremongering.
There are two water issues in joburg. One is rand water's lack of maintenance causing capacity issues and the other is one of the councils wanting to pump raw sewage into the Vaal.
That level is not particularly low, and it is deliberately kept there.
 
Sinbad said:
What bull**** scaremongering.
There are two water issues in joburg. One is rand water's lack of maintenance causing capacity issues and the other is one of the councils wanting to pump raw sewage into the Vaal.
That level is not particularly low, and it is deliberately kept there.
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Just to keep things consistent..

You keep it low so you can play the sympathy card and steal KZN's water damn you! :D
 
If it sinks low enough we may discover Atlantis and the real reason Pik Botha buried it under water.
 
I know the maintenance is bad and people waste a LOT of water, but it didn't help with the drought we've had over the last 1.5 years - last winter(coz it rarely rains here in the winter, which is normal), last summer and again this winter. It hasn't rained a lot at all.

I don't buy into it that we wouldn't still be a crisis even if the maintenance was up to scratch - although it doesn't help at all. The area mentioned which the dam feeds, is huge, and with no rain, it's gonna run empty sometime anyway.

Call me captain obvious, but seems like some people don't take all factors into account. I've changed my water usage habits drastically since the summer was so dry. But other people I witness daily, seem to be ignoring it. It's like they think water levels will just magically stay high.
 
maumau said:
Fascinates me how people are unaware of how much water they waste.

Washing the driveway with a hose is really irresponsible too. Hate it when I see that.
Click to expand...

How else do you clean bird crap off the bricks?
 
Ho3n3r said:
I know the maintenance is bad and people waste a LOT of water, but it didn't help with the drought we've had over the last 1.5 years - last winter(coz it rarely rains here in the winter, which is normal), last summer and again this winter. It hasn't rained a lot at all.

I don't buy into it that we wouldn't still be a crisis even if the maintenance was up to scratch - although it doesn't help at all. The area mentioned which the dam feeds, is huge, and with no rain, it's gonna run empty sometime anyway.

Call me captain obvious, but seems like some people don't take all factors into account. I've changed my water usage habits drastically since the summer was so dry. But other people I witness daily, seem to be ignoring it. It's like they think water levels will just magically stay high.
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Sterkfontein flows straight into the Vaal. What's its level?
Do you know about the LhWP?
 
The guvament can make up xcuses for electricity shortages but the coming water shortages will nail them to the wall.
Imagine Jhburg gets water for 12 hours per day only.
And this is not farfetched.
The Lesotho expansion project was (is?) delayed by an ANC minister who wanted a big piece of the action. They will rue this.
The Gauteng area depends on this for water security.
 
Sinbad said:
What bull**** scaremongering.
There are two water issues in joburg. One is rand water's lack of maintenance causing capacity issues and the other is one of the councils wanting to pump raw sewage into the Vaal.
That level is not particularly low, and it is deliberately kept there.
Click to expand...

Scaremongering is part of Journalism 101, 201, 301, 401 and available as a masters level course, so this sort of article is par for the course.
 
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