Five dams more than 100% full

ELLANIE SMIT

WINDHOEK

Ephemeral rivers in floodStorage dams in central and southern Namibia are full to the brim, but the East has not been that lucky.

The average level of Namibia’s dams has increased to 87.7% after receiving a total inflow of 74.6 million cubic metres last week.

Five of the country’s dams are now more than 100% full.

According to the weekly dam bulletin issued by NamWater on Monday, the average level of the country’s dams had increased from 82.9% in the last week. Last season the average level stood at 20.4%.

South

The majority of the inflow was measured in the dams in the South, where 60.270 million cubic metres of water was recorded.

This raised the level of the southern dams from 88.2% to 92.9% in the last week. Last season the average level of the dams in the south was 21.9%.

The Neckartal Dam was 100.3% full on Monday after receiving an inflow of 62.9 million cubic metres. The level of the dam was 93% last week.

According to NamWater the dam was still spilling over yesterday morning and was 100.4% full.

The sluices of the Hardap Dam had to be opened again on Monday morning after the level reached 71.3%. An inflow of 4.45 million cubic metres has been recorded since last week. Yesterday morning the level of the dam had dropped to 69.2%. Last season the dam was 6.1%.

Releases from the Naute Dam last week lowered its level from 105.4% to 97.4%. More than 6.6 million cubic metres of water was released from the dam last week. Last season the dam was 75.9% full.

The level of the Oanob Dam increased to 101.5% from 100.9% after receiving an inflow of 0.182 million cubic metres last week. The valves of the dam were again opened over the weekend to release water.

The Dreihuk Dam is 47.6% full while the Bondels Dam is 54.1% full. Last season these dams were empty.

Central

The dams in central Namibia recorded a total inflow of 12.4 million cubic metres of water in the last week. This raised the average level from 85% to 93.1%. Last season the average level of the dams was 19.7%.

The Swakoppoort Dam started to spill over on Monday after reaching 100.4%. It recorded an inflow of 5.9 million cubic metres of water in the last week. Last season the dam was only 5.2% full.

The Von Bach Dam is 89.1% full, the Omatako Dam 86.8%, the Friedenau Dam 100.5 and the Goreangab Dam 101.5%.

Rivers

Dams in the east did not record any inflow last week and the average level stands at 44.9%, compared to last season’s 7.5%.

The Omatjenne Dam received an inflow of 0.161 million cubic metres of water and is now 3.2% full.

The hydrological service says flows have been reported in some of the western, central and southern ephemeral rivers in the interior of the country due to heavy rains in their catchment areas.

Meanwhile, river flows in the southern part of the country have subsided.

“However, flows in the Lower Orange River are expected to rise because of releases from the upstream dams in South Africa and additional flow from the Fish River as a result of rainfall development and dam releases (Hardap Dam) in the Orange-Fish catchment.”

The Zambezi River continues its gradual rise at Katima Mulilo and recorded 1.98 metres on Monday morning. The water level is higher than at the same time last year.