The Western Cape Government (WCG) is responding to the current drought crisis by preparing a Business Continuity Plan (BCP).
The BCP will help ensure that the delivery of essential WCG services will continue, even if the supply of municipal water becomes severely constrained.
- Lead department: Department of Transport and Public Works (DTPW)
- Project team leader: Adv. Gavin Kode, DTPW Deputy Director-General: Provincial Public Works.
- Water BCP contacts for Western Cape Government-owned facilities
The Plan begins by acknowledging that a water-scarce future should be considered the “new normal”.
The Water BCP has two focus areas:
- Demand management interventions: To reduce water consumption at all WCG-owned facilities to contribute to avoiding a “dry-taps” scenario in any areas of the province.
- Supply-side interventions: To reduce municipal water consumption and to help ensure that there is enough drinking water for hygiene and for fire safety purposes in key facilities.
Water-saving in WCG buildings
The team is developing plans to implement immediately in high-risk areas, and across short-, medium- and long-term timeframes.
The current focus is on WCG critical service delivery areas of:
- health services,
- education,
- social development services, and
- office accommodation (command and control structures, and critical service points).
- Reducing water consumption remains a priority, which will extend well beyond the current drought.
We will continue to conduct regular water consumption audits in WCG-owned buildings to understand and reduce operational demand for water, and to produce and implement water management plans where necessary.
Water saving tips
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