Southern dams receive massive inflow

ELLANIE SMIT

WINDHOEK

While dams in the South are quickly filling up after heavy rains in their catchment areas, even more rain is expected.

By Monday morning, more than 40.3 million cubic metres of water had flowed into the dams in the South, of which about half making its way into the new Neckartal Dam.

Naute Dam

The sluice gates of the Naute Dam were opened on Monday, making it the first dam to reach maximum capacity this season.

Within a day though, the level of Naute Dam had increased more than 26%, from 90.5% on Monday morning to 117% yesterday morning.

An inflow of 2 200 cubic metres per second was recorded at 07:00 yesterday and the sluices were expected to remain open for the rest of the day.

NamWater plans to bring the level down to about 100%.

A week ago, the dam level stood at 85.4%, while last season it stood at 68.7%.

Hardap

Meanwhile, the level of the Hardap Dam at Mariental stood at 52.5% by yesterday morning.

Its level had increased from 37.4% last week, while last season the level stood at a mere 7%.

By Monday morning, the dam had received an inflow of 13.5 million cubic metres.

Neckartal

The new Neckartal Dam, inaugurated last year, is filling up for the first time, reaching a level of 30.5% on Monday night.

By Monday morning, 22 million cubic metres had flowed into the dam.

Rehoboth’s Oanob Dam recorded an inflow of 0.390 million cubic metres, raising its level to 78%. Last season the dam was 38.7% full.

The level of the Dreihuk Dam has increased to 5.7% and the Bondels Dam now stands at 3.9%. Both these dams were empty last season.

Central area

The dams in central Namibia received a total inflow of 2.713 million cubic metres. The Swakoppoort Dam is now 70.4% full, Von Bach Dam 73.5%, Omatako 18.2%, Friedenau 39.1% and Goreangab 95.1%.

A total inflow of 43.023 million cubic metres into all storage dams has been recorded so far this season, bringing the average dam level to 37.4% compared to last season’s 19.7%.

According to the weather bureau, widespread thundershowers were expected in the Hardap, //Karas, Kavango East, Kavango West and Omaheke regions yesterday.



Roads closed

Meanwhile, the Roads Authority (RA) says several roads in southern Namibia were damaged by heavy rains during the past two days.

The RA requested all motorists to exercise extra caution when driving in the South, as there could be road damage that it is not aware of yet.

“Our maintenance team is working around the clock to inspect and assess the conditions of the roads and ensure that warning signs are erected. Hence, all road users are again reminded to comply with the installed warning signs for their safety.”

According to RA the known affected roads are the B1 route (Trunk Road TR 1/2) from Grünau to Keetmanshoop and the TR 1/2 near the Guruchab River bridge.

“The eastern road shoulder has been extensively damaged. The road is open to traffic but we have erected road signs to warn the road users about the damaged section. The road is narrow; kindly exercise extreme caution.”

The Main Road 27 (MR 27) or tourist Route C16 from Keetmanshoop to Aroab has been damaged at several places, with the southern lane washed away at some spots.

The RA says the road is currently only accessible by 4x4 vehicles. Small vehicle owners are advised to refrain from travelling on this road until further notice.

The Main Road 22 (MR22) & District Road 271 (D271): gravel roads from Noordoewer to Karasburg are both temporarily closed due to serious wash-aways at river crossings and a collapsed culvert on MR22. Travellers from Noordoewer to Karasburg are urged to use the tarred road via Grünau.

The Hom River Bridge on District Road 210 (D210) near Warmbad is also temporarily closed.