Von Bach passes the halfway mark

Windhoek’s main reservoir, the von Bach dam just outside Okahandja, recorded a cumulutive inflow of about 6 million cubic metres on Thursday, Friday and Saturday last week. The water volume jumped from 20.8 Mm3 to 26.49 Mm3 in just three days. Widespread rains in the wake of the decayed cyclone, Dineo, during the previous week, took the dam to 42.8% of its full capacity, a level at which it remaind for almost a week.

Good rains in the catchment area, north and north-east of Okahandja produced flooding in several of the Swakop River’s tributaries in the Okahandja and Hochfeld districts, as well as a significant flow in the river’s upper reaches near Midgard Lodge.

Von Back is now 54.5% full according to the reading taken by Namwater on Monday morning, 06 March 2017. At that point, water was still entering the dam indicating that the level would rise further during Monday and Tuesday.

Another round of rain on Monday afternoon added to the inflow.

Meanwhile over the weekend, the first water entered the Omdel dam from repeated flooding in the Omaruru River, covering the base in a layer of water about 1 metre deep. The Swakop River, in flood from water that came down the Khan River, almost reached the ocean, finally faltering on Sunday evening after passing Burg Nonidas.