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Gouritz River catchment a big concern

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The Western Cape Department of Environmental Affairs says the state of the Gouritz River catchment area, which includes sections of the Karoo, is a big concern.

The average dam levels in that region currently stand at 18%.

Earlier in August, Oudtshoorn which is in the Karoo, was declared a local disaster area.

The municipality has applied for funding of at least R30 million from the provincial government to assist with alternate water resources.

Ministerial Spokesperson for Environmental Affairs, James-Brent Styan says the dams feeding the City of Cape Town are standing at about 60% this week.

“The dams feeding the City of Cape Town are standing at about 60 percent this week which is a number that’s good to see. However, we remain concerned about the situation at the Gouritz River Catchment area which includes municipalities like Oudtshoorn, which has been declared a local disaster area. So the Karoo and the Boesmanland and Langkloof areas remain constrained”.

Cape Town dam levels reach 60%

Meanwhile, dam levels in the City of Cape Town have, for the first time since 2016, reached a 60% mark average. This is a significant increase from last year’s 32 percent at the same time.

The city gets its water from six dams – the Berg River, the upper and lower Steenbras dams, Theewaterskloof, Voelvlei and Wemmershoek. The biggest dam in the Western Cape, Theewaterskloof, has also seen a great improvement to 44 percent from last year’s 25 percent.

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