Steenbras Dam — Upper 55%, Lower 45% as of 11 May 2026
Two dams, one mountain.
The Steenbras dams sit high in the Hottentots-Holland mountains east of Cape Town, and they do two jobs at once. Upper is the small pumped-storage reservoir for the City's hydroelectric scheme: water gets pumped up there overnight when electricity is cheap, then released back down through turbines during peak demand to generate power. Lower is the larger bulk-water dam that gravity-feeds the eastern part of the city.
Steenbras-Upper Dam is down 0.2 pts on last week, and down 35.3 pts on the same week last year.
Steenbras-Lower Dam is up 5.2 pts on last week, and up 3.2 pts on the same week last year.
Will the rain come?
Steenbras is two of six.
Together the Steenbras dams hold 66 Mm³, about 7% of the combined system. Theewaterskloof and Voëlvlei hold the bulk of the water. What matters is the level across all six dams together.