With the Vaal Dam water ranges at 107.3%, the Division of Water and Sanitation (DWS) has opened a third sluice gate on the dam to extend water outflows and handle the rise of inflows.
The third sluice gate which was opened on Tuesday afternoon, will improve water outflows to roughly 400 cubic metres per second (mᵌ/s), and handle the rise of inflows from upstream as a result of ongoing rains.
Throughout the protected operational limits
The division reassured that the present water releases by the three sluice gates are nonetheless inside the protected operational limits and usually are not anticipated to result in overtopping of riverbanks downstream.
“Grootdraai Dam, situated in Mpumalanga within the Higher Vaal River Catchment, which is upstream of Vaal Dam, had one sluice gate opened by one metre, and has now been elevated to 1.5 metres to extend the water releases. The dam is presently sitting at 103.37%.
“At Bloemhof Dam, water outflows have been quickly closed immediately as a result of upkeep work presently underway. As quickly as the upkeep is accomplished immediately, water releases will resume and might be staggered over a number of hours to forestall wave-action flooding downstream,” the division stated in an announcement.
Moreover, elevated outflows from Vaal Dam are anticipated to succeed in Bloemhof in three to 4 days and can lead to water ranges rising on the dam.
“If needed, these will increase might be managed by steadily rising outflows from the dam. The dam ranges are [at] 96.65%.”
The division added that it’s implementing these needed water releases on the dams as a part of dam security precautions to safeguard infrastructure and guarantee that there’s full storage capability after the rainfall season.
The division opened the second sluice gate on the Vaal Dam on Friday, 28 March.
The DWS is constantly monitoring the water ranges within the Vaal River System.
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