Water Watch 2015

Camped at Blindmans Corner this weekend and, whilst the river is not flowing at the campsite, walk about 30m upstream, and you will find a small stream flowing over the rocks. It disappears underground by the time it comes to the campsite.

We camped at KBC last week and found water about 10-15m up stream but not much and is drying up quickly.

I post I just came across on Facebook regarding the drought. The caption was:

KZN is dry.......
Here are some sobering stats from the Umgeni Water website on how full (or empty) our KZN dams are :
Umgeni River:
Albert Falls Dam 47.9 %
Inanda Dam 86.47 %
Mearns Dam 55.28 %
Midmar Dam 54.21 %
Nagle Dam 77.74 %
Spring Grove 91.72 %
North Coast:
Hazelmere Dam 28.56 %
Henley Dam 100.0 %
South Coast:
Ixopo Dam 43.96 %
E.J.Smith Dam 68.37 %
Nungwane Dam 33.27 %
Umzinto Dam 20.22 %

The Little Mooi River has stopped flowing in its lower reaches
The Lions River: ditto!
Karkloof River: ditto
Indezi and Dargle: heading there rapidly
Please use your water sparingly - they say we are in year 1 of a three year drought cycle due to El Nino...... even the Zambezi has stopped flowing, exposing the spectacular rock faces of the Victoria Falls.
If the mighty Zambezi can be brought to a halt - what chance do smaller water courses stand?
Pics: Karkloof & Woodhouse Falls area then and now dry

Photos of how Karfloof Falls usually looks this time of year:






How it looks right now:

On the weekend of 23 - 26 October the water situation was:

Fangs Pass - water up to 2600 m, at the usual drips near the transition from the boulder bed to grass slope.
Rwanqa Summit Campsite - water flowing slowly in the stream about 100 m downstream of the campsite.
Mponjwane Cave - very dry, only a few non flowing pools in the stream towards Ledges Cave.
Rockeries Pass - quite a strong stream at 2670 m (possibly from the previous night's rain), otherwise no water on the pass above the Nguza Pass river crossing.

Who has been near the top of Ifidi recently? What is the water situation like in that region and going towards Mbundini?

Apparently 10mm of rain at Monk's Cowl last night


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Sabine, did you end up finding out what Ifidi area is looking like water-wise?

Or can anyone else help with info for this or Tugela river falls areas?
We are heading up there this weekend and would really appreciate some info.

Shot!

Hi guys,

I am planning to do the Bell Traverse in the last weekend of November. Does anyone know what the water situation is like in the Cathedral Peak area at this moment with the drought? Do you think there will be water in the stream above Sherman's Cave. As a rule of thumb I know that water on the BT is always a bit of problem.

Our intended route is as follows:

Day 1: Hotel to campsite at base of Cathedral Peak / Bell Cave
Day 2: Bell Cave to Twins Cave (going up to the escarpment to fetch water)
Day 3: Down Mlambonja to Hotel.

Any advice will be highly appreciated.