Staff Reporter
THE Naute Dam’s water level has decreased since the Namibia Water Corporation (NamWater) opened the dam’s floodgates on Sunday, falling from 117.3% capacity at 10:00 on Sunday morning to 113.4% at 06:00 on Monday morning.
This was confirmed by NamWater, which explained that the releases from the dam flow into the rapidly-rising Fish River, raising safety concerns for nearby communities.
“These releases will continue until the dam reaches a safe operating level. In addition, the Neckartal Dam has reached 105.7% capacity and is currently spilling at approximately 870 m³/s. Water from both dams will converge into the Fish River, flowing through the canyon and past the Ai-Ais Resort,” NamWater explained.
RISING WATERS: Videos and photos showing recent scenes at the Fish River. Videos and Photos: NamWater and Facebook (Kalla Koopman)
The Fish River has already seen a sharp rise in water levels following recent heavy rainfall in the southern parts of the country and is expected to rise further as releases from the Naute and Neckartal dams continue to feed into it.
“NamWater urges residents, tourists, farmers and all other users downstream of these dams to stay out of the Fish River and canyon areas due to the high volumes and strong flows,” NamWater warned.
