Substantial rainfall of over 200 millimeters at places like Joubertina and Kareedouw in the Eastern Cape has brought some relief to the drought-affected area around Nelson Mandela Bay.
The metro’s main supply dams are seeing a significant rise in levels. The level of the Churchill Dam has risen from 16 percent last week to over 90%, and it’s still rising.
In the Gamtoos River Valley, vegetable and export citrus farmers are facing restrictions, as the level of the biggest supply dam had dropped to less than seven percent last week.
CEO of the Gamtoos Irrigation Board, Pierre Joubert says there is a sigh of relief in the valley.
Joubert says, “We had good rains in the catchment areas, so the dam has risen to 31%, and there is still a good inflow. I think we may reach 40% which is a huge difference to what we had before at 6.8% before the rain.”
“The farmers are restricted to 20 % of their normal allocation. We have requested the Department of Water Affairs an ease up to 50% of the normal allocations, which will make a huge difference,” adds Joubert.
City of Cape Town has meanwhile eased water restrictions after good rains.
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