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For the first in eight years, the Kouga Dam is expected to overflow by tomorrow, September 29, after the dam levels increased rapidly from 62 percent on September 26 to 92.19 percent on September 28.
Rienette Colesky, CEO of Gamtoos Irrigation Board, said that the Kouga Dam has only spilled over 33 times since 1971 with the dam last reaching 100 percent in 2015.
Since then, the Kouga Dam levels have never reached full capacity.
Colesky said that they were aware of the warnings of severe rain as predicted on September 22, by the South African Weather Services (SAWS) and were fortunate to have heavy rain from September 23 to 25 with Krakeel Hoek receiving 333mm, Tamie 185mm, Krakeel 206mm, and Joubertina 125mm.
In an interesting turn of events, on September 25, the SAWS upgraded their weather warning to Orange level 9 for disruptive rain in Kou-Kamma and Baviaans in the Dr Beyers Naude which was expected to continue until September 25 at 22:00.
As part of the severe rain, Colesky said that a cutoff low moved over the catchment area of the Kouga Dam which resulted in a large amount of rain that ultimately flowed into the Kouga Dam.
“A cut-off low is the kind of rain that fills up the Kouga Dam and causes the dam to spill over,” said Colesky.
“If a cut-off low comes to the catchment area, we know that there is a large possibility for the dam to fill up.”
Colesky said that they were also expecting heavy rain on September 25 and by 03:00 the following morning she said that she received a notification of the amount of rain that had fallen over a certain part of the catchment area.
She said that there was a total of 200mm measured across the catchment area with Krakeel Hoek receiving quite a bit of rain.
Colesky said that Stuurmanskraal, a measuring weir in the Kouga region, peaked at 310 000 litres per second on September 26 and then began declining from the morning of September 27.
She said that by the end of the day on September 27, Stuurmanskraal measured at 198 000 litres per second.
“198 000 litres per second traveling to the Kouga Dam is an enormous amount of water,” said Colesky.
She further said that at one point during the heavy downpour over the last few days, for approximately five hours about 5 million cubic metres of water flowed into the Kouga Dam which equates to about two Loerie Dams.
Colesky said that the Kouga Dam level was at 62 percent on September 26 and because of the run-off from the catchment areas in the last 72 hours, they expect the dam to be overflowing soon with the current level as of September 28 at 92.19 percent.
“We expect the Kouga Dam to be overflowing by September 29,” said Colesky.
“There is a real expectancy of the dam overflowing at this time as it has been rising at an incredible level.”
Colesky said that since the dam levels have risen to above 65 percent, they “consider the drought to be broken”.
“If the dam level rises above 65 percent, in our book we consider the drought to be broken,” said Colesky.
She further said that at 65 percent the restrictions are usually lifted, and agriculture could receive the full water quota.
Colesky said that the farmers in the region are incredibly thankful and humbled by the recent increase in dam levels.
She said that the water extraction restrictions placed on the dam influence farmers and people on a personal level.
“This is one person who needs to put food on the table and have employees depending on them, so a shortage of water is a very personal matter,” said Colesky.
“People feel blessed and relieved. We know that restrictions are a reality but for now, these farmers can farm again, produce, and offer employment. This is a good place to be in.”
“We also hope that we will not have a terrible drought like we have had over the last eight years.”
According to the Department of Water and Sanitation, as of September 28, the dam levels are as follows, Churchill – 100 percent, Impofu – 20.46 percent, Loerie – 100 percent and Groendal – 100 percent.
