Here’s what level the six major dams in Cape Town recorded this week
· Citizen
The Western Cape Water Supply System recorded a combined storage level of 55.1% as of 24 February 2026.
All six major dams showed week-on-week declines and levels significantly below those at the same time last year.
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Dam levels are falling across the board
The City of Cape Town confirmed that the Western Cape Water Supply System, an integrated network of dams, pump stations, pipelines, and tunnels, recorded a total stored volume of 495 331 megalitres as of 23 February 2026, against a combined full capacity of 898 221 megalitres.
“The dams in and around Cape Town form part of the Western Cape Water Supply System, which is an integrated and collectively managed system of dams, pump stations, pipelines, and tunnels,” the city said.
The system does not only serve Cape Town. According to the city, it also supplies water to towns across the Overberg, Boland, West Coast, and Swartland regions.
“In addition to servicing Cape Town, the system supplies water to towns in the Overberg, Boland, West Coast, and Swartland areas, and provides irrigation water for agriculture,” the city noted.
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Theewaterskloof remains the largest dam, but is less than halfway to full capacity
Theewaterskloof, the largest dam in the system with a full capacity of 480 188 megalitres, was sitting at 52.3% as of 23 February.
Berg River, the second largest at 130 010 megalitres, recorded 51.5%.
Steenbras Lower sat at 49.6% of its 33 517 megalitre capacity, while Steenbras Upper was the best performer at 68.9% of its 31 767 megalitre capacity.
Voëlvlei recorded 61.4% of its 164 095 megalitre capacity, and Wemmershoek came in at 64.6% of its 58 644 megalitre capacity.
Week-on-week, every dam in the system has declined
The weekly figures for 23 February 2026 show a system-wide retreat from the previous week’s readings, with no dam recording an improvement.
Berg River fell from 54.5% to 51.5%, a drop of three percentage points in a single week. Steenbras Lower declined from 51.7% to 49.5%, slipping below the halfway mark.
Steenbras Upper edged down marginally from 69.1% to 68.9%, recording the smallest week-on-week change across the system.
Theewaterskloof moved from 53.8% to 52.5%, Voëlvlei dropped from 64.6% to 62.4%, and Wemmershoek fell from 67.1% to 64.9%.
In total, the system shed 15 765 megalitres in a single week, with the combined stored volume dropping from 513 711 megalitres to 497 946 megalitres.
The City of Cape Town noted that the overall percentage storage figure is the most reliable lens through which to read the system’s health, given that the dams vary considerably in size and individual readings can obscure the broader picture.
“Because each dam size is different, the best indicator of overall dam water levels is the total quantity stored expressed as a percentage of total dam capacity.”
Levels dramatically lower than this time last year
The year-on-year comparison reveals just how much ground has been lost since February 2025, when the system sat at 74.1%, nearly 19 percentage points higher than the current 55.4%.
At the same time last year, total stored volume stood at 665 453 megalitres, compared to 497 946 megalitres recorded for the week of 23 February 2026, a difference of 167 507 megalitres.
Every dam in the system is tracking well below its 2025 levels. Berg River has dropped from 74.4% to 51.5%, a year-on-year decline of nearly 23 percentage points.
Steenbras Lower fell from 65.1% to 49.5%, and Steenbras Upper, which was nearly full at 94.8% in February 2025, has declined sharply to 68.9%.
Theewaterskloof moved from 74.5% to 52.5%, Voëlvlei from 73.1% to 62.4%, and Wemmershoek from 66.9% to 64.9%, the only dam whose year-on-year gap has narrowed to within 2 percentage points.
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