Niël Terblanché
THE water level in the Neckertal Dam has increased with 1.4% in past 12 hours as water from the Hardap Dam travelled about 250 kilometres down the Fish River.
On Saturday morning the level in the dam stood at 80% and when the last measurement was taken at 18:00 the level has increased to 81.4% and at the current inflow rate of 1 045 cubic metres per second the dam might very well reach the point where water will start flowing over the spillway sometime during Sunday.
In context, the amount of water flowing into the Neckertal Dam is more than double the amount currently being released from the Hardap Dam.
Pictures of the Neckertal Dam wall show the water level close to the lip of the spillway, but as the dam fills up, the area in which the water is stored grows bigger and the level against wall rises slower.
Currently, the dam has more than twice the volume of water that can be accommodated in the Hardap at a 100% capacity.
At 21:00 on Saturday the level of the Hardap Dam has gone down to 73.7% as water is still being released at a rate of 500 cubic metres per second.
It is expected that the NamWater officials will close the flood gates once the level reaches 70%.
The water that was released from the Hardap Dam will significantly increase the inflow rate at the Neckertal Dam which means Namibia’s newest dam will reach full capacity much quicker than anticipated.
