Dam levels
17 August 2026
The City of Cape Town and the National Department of Water and Sanitation measures dam levels to check how much water is available for the region and whether water restrictions are necessary for residents and businesses. The dam levels are critical for Cape Town’s water supply.
Daily levels
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. 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.
See
the reading for 17 August 2026.
| Major dams | Storage | |
| Ml | % | |
| |
Capacity when full | 17/8/2026 |
| Berg River |
130 010 |
91.9 |
| Steenbras Lower |
33 517 |
52.9 |
| Steenbras Upper |
31 767 |
93.2 |
| Theewaterskloof |
480 188 |
77.9 |
| Voëlvlei |
164 095 |
61.4 |
| Wemmershoek |
58 644 |
96.9 |
| Total Stored Ml | 898 221 |
698 351 |
| % Storage | |
77.7 |
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. This statistic is shown in the bottom line of the table.
Weekly levels
See the reading for the week of 17 August 2026.
| Major dams |
17/8/2026 |
Previous week | % 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Berg River | 91.9 | 91.9 | 100.4 |
| Steenbras Lower |
52.9 | 53.1 | 94.1 |
| Steenbras Upper |
93.2 | 97.8 |
102.4 |
| Theewaterskloof |
77.9 | 78.3 | 85.6 |
| Voëlvlei |
61.4 | 61.5 | 93.9 |
| Wemmershoek |
96.9 | 98.3 |
91.8 |
| Total Stored Ml | 698 351 | 702 712 |
813 559 |
| % Storage | 77.7 | 78.2 |
90.6 |
You can also track how much water we have in our main dams supplying our city, compared to this day last week and this day last year. To see a year-on-year comparison, please see our extended weekly water report.
Top tip
The time to save water is when there is water to save! See our page
on saving water. Also, find out more about water restrictions.