WINDHOEK – The latest NamWater Dam Bulletin does not make for good reading and the City of Windhoek will only be able to provide sufficient water to its residents until about July next year, if the levels of the dams supplying Windhoek do not increase.
While some good rains have been forecast for most of the country for the next few days the levels of the city’s supply dams are very low and City of Windhoek spokesperson Joshua Amukugo reiterated his plea to residents to save water, as there have been no inflows during the current rainy season.
It was projected last week the Von Bach Dam would only be able to supply the city with water up to the middle of June 2016 before it runs dry, while Swakoppoort would only be able to supply water until the end of July 2016.
NamWater’s bulletin on Monday shows the Swakoppoort Dam with a capacity of 63.48 million cubic metres is only 36.8 percent full and the Von Bach Dam with a capacity of 48.56 million cubic metres stands at 35 percent.
The update on the state of the country’s dams indicated all of the surface reservoirs supplying Windhoek were lower on Monday than they were a year ago.
The combined level of the dams in the central part of the country stood at 28.5 percent of capacity on Monday.
A year ago, the combined level of the dams was 45.7 percent of their total capacity of 165.89 million cubic metres of water. Currently the Swakoppoort, Von Bach, Omatako, Goreangab and Friedenau dams hold 47.3 million cubic metres of water.
Omatako Dam, from which water is pumped into the Von Bach Dam, is only 1.2 percent full.
A year ago, its water level stood at 17.1 percent of its 43.49 million cubic metre capacity.
Goreangab Dam, which was 100.5 percent full a year ago, is full to its capacity of 3.64 million cubic metres. The Friedenau Dam west of Windhoek, with a capacity of 6.7 million cubic metres, is 43.9 percent full, compared to the 61 percent at the start of March 2014.
Namibia’s biggest dam, the Hardap Dam near Mariental, which has a capacity of 294.59 million cubic metres, was 49.8 percent full on Monday compared to a year ago when it was 42.3 percent full.
The Naute Dam near Keetmanshoop, which has a capacity of 83.58 million cubic metres, is 69.2 percent full compared to 56.2 percent a year ago.
The Oanob Dam near Rehoboth, which was 53.5 percent full a year ago, stood at 38.5 percent of its total capacity of 34.5 million cubic metres on Monday.
Olushandja Dam with a 42.33 million cubic metres’ capacity was 30.2 percent on Monday.
At the start of March last year that dam’s water level stood at 22.2 percent of capcity.
Most of the dams in the Gobabis area are also lower than they were a year ago.
The Otjivero Main Dam (capacity 9.8 million cubic metres) is 69.4 percent full (60.4 percent a year ago), the Otjivero Silt Dam (capacity 7.79 million cubic metres) stands at 45.2 percent (117 percent a year ago), the Tilda Viljoen Dam (capacity 1.22 million cubic metres) is 60.5 percent full (81.7 percent a year ago), and the smaller Daan Viljoen Dam (capacity of 430 000 cubic metres) is 67.4 percent full (100.9 percent a year ago).