Dam levels need public support to inch upwards
A relative dry start to the rain season is seeing dam levels substantially lower than the same time last year, Anton Bredell, Western Cape Minister of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning said today.
Bredell was responding to the latest figures released by the Department of Water and Sanitation that shows collective Western Cape dams currently at 63.57% full, compared to 76.62% a year ago.
Wemmershoek, Voëlvlei, Steenbras Upper and Lower, Theewaterskloof and Berg River Dams, which provides water to Cape Town, are current at a combined level of 75.42%. This is significantly lower than the level of 97.53% recorded at the same time, last year for these dams.
“In the absence of prolonged and widespread rain, our only available strategy is to use less water and allow the rain that we do get to fill up our dams as much as possible,” Bredell said. Bredell also said municipalities must ensure that leaks from storage dams and water distribution networks are kept to an absolute minimum, as this can also contribute to saving water.
According to data from the City of Cape Town, daily water uses for the City as measured on the 25th of July stood at 768 million liter per day.
Bredell said the role of alien plant infestation in catchment areas should also not be underestimated in our strategies to be more water secure in the Western Cape. “The Greater Cape Town Water Fund, run initially by The Nature Conservancy, calculated that water lost to the Western Cape through invasive alien infestation amounts to 55 billion litres per year. Alien clearing programmes are essential to our future water security in the Province,” Bredell said.
According to a Provincial Disaster Management Report to the Western Cape Cabinet, below normal rainfall and unseasonably warm temperatures were experienced during the first half of the Western Cape’s traditional rainfall season. Below-normal rainfall may lead to water scarcity in the Province should the conditions persist throughout the winter rainfall season, according to the Report.
According to the South African Weather Services, predictions for the next few months indicate a strong likelihood for continued below-normal rainfall, although the possibility of a few strong cold fronts cannot be excluded.
The Western Cape’s traditional rain season is from May to August. The Department of Water and Sanitation, in consultation with the Provincial Government assesses water availability at the end of October to decide if water strictions will be implemented for the following year.
Contact:
Wouter Kriel
Spokesperson for Minister Anton Bredell
Western Cape Minister of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning
079 694 3085