Update Video

GRAAFF-REINET NEWS & VIDEO - Despite much-needed rain in and around Graaff-Reinet recently, the Nqweba Dam is still empty.

"Although the rain brought much hope, we still have a long way to go," said Chief Executive Officer of Agri Western Cape, Jannie Strydom, about the drought in the Karoo and Western Cape.

According to Garth Sampson, spokesperson for SA Weather in the Eastern Cape, 60mm of rain was measured in Graaff-Reinet since 30 December. The South African Weather Bureau, however, forecasts above normal rainfall for the area in the months to come.

Hydrologist Gideon Groenewald is positive that this heavy rainfall will start to push the dam level up, as the dam is currently filled with approximately 60 per cent silt. "The past couple of days' rainfall is busy saturating the silt," Groenewald explained. 

According to him, the rain allows the dry cracks of the dam to swell and fill with water, which means that the dam's bottom will be sealed again.

The empty Nqweba Dam. 

Watch a video below:

Groenewald believes that enough rainfall on the dam site will cause an overflow, and warned residents living near the lower side of the Sunday's River to be cautious.

Strydom welcomed the rain forecast, and said that more rain is critical for dam levels to rise and for natural grazing on farms to recover. 

"Producers may survive one or two more years of below average rainfall, but the effect of five years of below average rainfall can probably only be wiped out by five consecutive above average years." 

Strydom added that the recent showers are the start of a promising rainy season for the region.

Photos: Christo Vermaak