Provided that adequate water restrictions are maintained, the City of Cape Town says it is confident that there will be no prospect of reaching ‘day zero’ in 2019 – a projected day when the taps would run dry in the city.<\/p>\n
Cape Town has suffered the effects of a prolonged drought which saw its dam levels reach critical levels and forcing the local government to enforce drastic measures to reduce water consumption.<\/p>\n
“At this early stage of the winter season, our dam levels are already in a much stronger position than we were at the end of winter last year,” the city’s executive deputy mayor, Alderman Ian Neilson said in a statement on Thursday (28 June 2018).<\/p>\n
“While we hope to reduce the current water restrictions in the near future, and the tariffs associated with them, this decision is dependent on National Government relaxing restrictions on releases from the water supply system,” he said.<\/p>\n
The levels of the dams supplying water to Cape Town have been rising consistently and significantly over the past six weeks. “As at today, total dam storage capacity is at just over 43%, and we still have more than two months of expected winter rainfall ahead of us,” it said.<\/p>\n
By comparison, the situation at the end of winter last year, saw dam levels at 38% and consumption at more than 600 million litres a day.<\/p>\n
“Having analysed this new data, we are now in a position to state that not only have we managed to avoid day zero this year, but we will also safely get through summer in 2019.<\/p>\n
“This is due to the amount of water already in the dams, our intense water demand management programmes, our unrelenting communication, awareness and the behavioural change it has effected over the past two years, as well as the continued support and sacrifice of Team Cape Town,” Neilson said.<\/p>\n
It said that while it hoped at some point in the next few months to be in a position to relax the current restrictions, and the tariffs associated with them,”this decision will have to wait until National Government relaxes restrictions on releases from the water supply system”.<\/p>\n