GRAAFF-REINET NEWS - Although the Nqweba Dam level is at 19,78%, the animals of the Camdeboo - true creatures of habit - still quench their thirst elsewhere.
Mzwandile Mjadu, manager of the Camdeboo National Park, is happy that the Nqweba Dam has more water, but dismayed that the animals are not returning to the dam to drink.
"During the drought, the animals got used to seeking other places to get water, and now they have gotten into that ritual," Mjadu explained. Many gemsbok and approximately 60 calves drink at just one of the park's windmills. He said the only wild returning to the dam are ostriches, of which there are too many.
"Buffalo and eland we hardly ever see, because they stay where they have found water during the drought." The park measured 65mm of rain on 12 and 13 March alone.
Garth Sampson, the Port Elizabeth weather office spokesperson, said in Graaff-Reinet the weather office measured 39mm rain since the beginning of March compared to 75mm in February and 56mm in January.
A resident of Cradock Street, Thinus Ferreira has, since January, measured 197mm at his home.
With the Sundays, Pienaars and Gats rivers coming down in flood on 7 February, the level of the then empty dam rose to 5,3% overnight. On 13 February, the level stood at 5,41%, but rose to 7,65% on 21 February, and have continued to rise to over 19% today.
The Nqweba Dam on Sunday 15 March. Photo: Paula-Ann Smit
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