The City of Cape Town is cautioning residents that dam levels are low and if rainfall figures do not increase this winter, water level water restrictions may be on the table by November.
At a media briefing held at the Smart Living Education Centre, Green Point Park, on Wednesday, February 25, the City shared updates on the current status, forecasts, and long-term plans to build water resilience ahead of the upcoming winter rainfall season.
Dam levels are currently sitting at just over 55 percent, around 19 percent lower than the same time last year.
While there is no immediate threat to supply, the system is entering a more sensitive period ahead of winter rainfall.
Mayoral committee member for water and sanitation, Dr Zahid Badroodien, said: "We are in an early drought caution. This means that we do anticipate another drought to come; when that happens, is what we are currently analysing based on the rainfall predictions, which will become clearer over the next few months."
The ‘Early Drought Caution’, as per the City’s Drought Management Framework, is an early warning phase that reflects lower-than-expected dam levels and signals the need for continued careful use of water, even though taps are running normally, said Dr Badroodien.
The City is calling on residents to work with them to save as much water as possible.
Dr Badroodien said while residents would be using water sparingly, the municipality would bring its new water system online by 2031.
He said that compared to the last impending drought in 2017/2018, many emergency measures had to be put in place, whereas now there are alternate water sources available.
During that time, Cape Town nearly ran out of municipal water due to a severe 3-year drought, prompted by dam levels falling below 13.5 percent.
Back then, residents were restricted to 50 liters per person per day, which saved the city by halving consumption.
It spurred long-term, ongoing water-saving measures such as desalination and aquifer storage and recovery.
Water and sanitation distribution services director Etienne Hugo spoke about the City’s key initiatives to reduce water loss, such as pipe replacement and pressure management.
"The City is actively replacing aging water pipes and implementing pressure management zones to reduce burst frequency and minimise water loss.
"Currently, approximately 24 percent of the water put into the system is unaccounted for, with about 21 percent attributed to leaks," he said.
Mr Hugo said proactive leak detection teams were walking up to 30km a day.
"Dedicated leak detection teams actively walk and monitor 50 percent of the 11 000 km water network annually, finding and fixing unreported leaks to curb significant wastage," he said.
Mike Killick, director of bulk services, said the new water programme was a critical investment to diversify Cape Town’s water supply beyond surface dams.
These include: aquifer recharge schemes - projects like the Cape Flats Managed Aquifer Recharge scheme will inject treated effluent into the aquifer to improve water quality and increase yield.
"Direct water reuse, that planning is progressing for the Faure Water Reuse Scheme, which will purify treated effluent for blending with surface water; and desalination, the City is pursuing public-private partnerships for a large-scale desalination plant on the foreshore," he said.
Water and sanitation communications and partnerships manager Nqobile Simelane said that it would take a whole-of-society approach to mitigating the misuse of water and to change behaviours.
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