The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) on Thursday opened one sluice gate to increase water releases from the Vaal dam, the levels of which have reached 106.14% owing to continuous rainfall

The increased outflows to between 110 cubic metres per second (mᵌ/s) and 130 mᵌ/s will continue until Monday as the DWS seeks to maintain the dam’s water levels at 105%.

All outlet valves that were previously opened and were releasing 60.1 mᵌ/s of water at the Vaal dam have now been closed, as they do not have the required capacity to release the required volumes.

At Bloemhof dam, outflows have also been increased to 250 mᵌ/s to allow for the extra flows that are expected from Vaal dam within the next three to four days and to keep the dam below 100%.

Water levels at the dam are currently at 97.6%. The DWS will continue to monitor the water levels at both the dams closely.

The current water release by single sluice gate is within the safe operational limits and is not expected to lead to overtopping of riverbanks downstream.