Here’s how the Vaal Dam’s recovery is going after recent dip

The Vaal Dam wall is seen during a period of heavy rains, 3 January 2021. Picture: Michel Bega The Vaal Dam has remained above 100% capacity for six straight days, buoyed by strong seasonal inflows. This comes after the dam dipped below 100% last week.

It had remained above capacity for almost a year. The Vaal Dam entered March on a high note, with water levels holding above full capacity for six consecutive days by 4 March 2026, according to the latest data fromThe Reservoir, a Water Resource Information Centre for the Catchment Management Forums of the Upper Vaal Water Management Area. As of 4 March, the dam stood at 100.50%, with inflows recorded at 73.4³/s against an outflow of 30.2³/s , and no sluice gates opened.

The sustained run above full capacity began on 27 February, when the dam first crossed the 100% threshold after registering an inflow of 117.6m³/s. At that point, outflows were recorded at 21.4m³/s with gates remaining closed. According to The Reservoir, that day marked “over 100% – 01 consecutive days.” The current above-capacity streak followed a single day below the 100% mark.

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On 26 February, the dam dipped to 99.87%, ending what had been a remarkable 355-day run above full capacity.The Reservoirnoted at the time that the dam had fallen nine days short of making it a full year. Despite that brief retreat, inflows that day remained robust at 98.3m³/s, with outflows at 21.4m³/s and gates remaining closed. The Vaal Barrage recorded an outflow of 30.0m³/s and a water temperature of 21.9°C on the same day.

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