The City of Cape Town has been instructed to reduce overall water consumption by 40%. The Department of Water and Sanitation is the custodian of all national water resources. In a statement, mayoral committee member for waste services Xanthea Limberg said a reduction of 40% would equate to roughly 520 million litres of collective water usage per day. Since August, the city has been aiming to keep water consumption below 500 million litres per day.
According to Ms. Limberg, the city is moving ahead of the curve by already having a target in place that is even lower than the new restriction target. This is in an effort to act conservatively. The pro-activity will also help base solutions of the same on a worst-case scenario.
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Three years of below-average rainfall
On Monday, citywide consumption stood at 618 million litres per day, a decrease of 4 million litres from the previous week.
Western Cape local government, environmental affairs and development planning MEC Anton Bredell said provincial dam levels currently stood at 35.88% compared to 62.2% in 2016. He has further attributed this to three years of below-average rainfall. According to him, the little rain has worsened the situation. Furthermore, proactive measures like the implementation of water restrictions and programs don’t seem to remedy the situation. Some of these include clearing the Berg River of alien vegetation.
Bredell further emphasized the need to work together. He said that all the three spheres of government as well as the public and business sector should come together.
