Good rains in October bring hope for parched district
Meanwhile, water restrictions will remain in force
WHILE good coastal rains have continued to fall, inland the rains have not had much effect on the storage dams.
For the period June to October, Port Durnford recorded 599.1mm, with the next highest falls of 524mm and 401.2mm at KwaMbonambi nursery and Gingindlovu respectively.
Nkwaleni’s Zigagazi farm which is the closest station to the Goedertrouw Dam, had 102mm over this period.
This explains why the dam is still at just over 18% of its capacity at the end of October.
Reasonable rains have fallen over Heatonville (262.8mm), Entumeni Sugar Estate (252.5mm) and between 276.6mm and 188mm in the Melmoth region since June.
The drought has continued in northern Zululand with Pongola SASRI recording 84.6mm, Pongola Impala Irrigation 25.4 and the Makhathini ARC 101mm since June.
uMkhuze relief
The Mkuze area, which includes the uMkhuze Section of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, received 73.2mm over the same period.
The reserve was recently in the news when a public outcry through social media spoke of a pod of hippo in the Insumo Pan that were to be culled.
Culling was never on the cards and good rains in the latter half of October saw the pan beginning to fill up.
Figures received for uMkhuze (Mantuma Camp) on Wednesday morning are 3.5mm and Matakisi, also in uMkhuze, 19mm for the 24 hours ending at 8am.
The rains have meant that the vegetation is recovering and grazing in the game reserves and farming areas is improving.
Farmers and conservationists are hopeful that the rains will continue and, if the October rainfall pattern continues for the rest of the year, rivers and dams should also start filling up.
Meanwhile, water restrictions will remain in force.
The dam levels are still critically low and it will take many months of consistent rain to reach the levels at which restrictions could be lifted.
The Klipfontein Dam on the White Mfolozi River was at 10.9% of its capacity on Monday, down from 11.4% the previous week.
The Pongolapoort Dam outside Jozini also remains critically low with the level remaining constant at 37.2% compared to 52.8% last year at this time.
HAVE YOUR SAY
Like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter.
For news straight to your phone invite us:
WhatsApp – 072 069 4169
Instagram – zululand_observer
