Dam levels low before arrival of rainy season

The three dams on which Windhoek depends for a major part of its water supply are currently filled to only about 26% of their total storage capacity.

With the proper arrival of Namibia’s rainy season still being awaited across most of the country, the Namibian Water Corporation (NamWater) reported in its weekly dam bulletin yesterday that the dams supplying water to Windhoek and Okahandja are storing 40,8 million cubic metres of water currently.

That is 26,4% of the dams’ total storage capacity of 154,5 million cubic metres.

The Von Bach Dam near Okahandja was filled to only 16,7% of its storage capacity of 47,5 million cubic metres yesterday, while the Swakoppoort Dam’s level stood at 51,8% of its storage capacity of 63,4 million cubic metres.

The Omatako Dam – the third of the three dams from which water is sourced for Windhoek and Okahandja – is currently empty.

The Hardap Dam near Mariental, which is an important source of water for irrigation, is currently storing about 70,4 million cubic metres of water, which is 23,9% of its capacity, compared to a level of about 54% (159,6 million cubic metres) at the same time last year.

The City of Windhoek announced restrictions on the use of water at the end of May.

In terms of the restrictions, Windhoek residents are not allowed to water gardens between 09h00 and 17h00 from October to the end of April, and flower and vegetable gardens should be watered by hand only every second day.

Hosepipes should not be used to wash cars at home, and swimming pools should be covered when not in use.

The main dam levels reported by NamWater yesterday, with the dams’ readings at the corresponding time a year ago in brackets, are:

Swakoppoort 51,8% (78,3%)
Von Bach 16,7% (38%)
Omatako empty (1,4%)
Hardap 23,9% (54,2%)
Neckartal 88,6% (95,8%)
Naute 51,5% (83,7%)
Oanob 50,3% (70,4%)
Otjivero Main 6,5% (23,5%)
Otjivero Silt empty (1,5%)
Tilda Viljoen 22,9% (45%)
Daan Viljoen 3,6% (40%)
Olushandja 34% (9%)
Friedenau 62% (79,5%).