The downpours of last week brought both tears and joy in the valley.
Joy because our dam levels have risen, tears because of the large-scale damage which was caused by the storm water, wreaking havoc across the valley.
But another tragedy is that of all the rain and run-off water which will now be washed to sea in torrents.
As seen with the drought which we were faced with in the last decade, our dams which feed our taps are not sufficient to see us through in times of drought. Both the Wemmershoek and Berg River dams are small.
Theewaterskloof, the largest in the Western Cape, is very shallow resulting in high rates of evaporation during the hot summer months.
During the recent years of drought the question actually arose as to why the Department of Water Affairs did not make any attempts to deepen the dam which was at one stage just about empty.
The fiasco as well with the latest floods has led to an investigation into the releasing of water too late and too much from the Wemmershoek and Berg River Dams.
Water is such a valuable commodity, one with which none of us can do without. The DWA should use all it’s resources to manage our bodies of water correctly and appropriately.
