Authorities encouraging households to use 87 litres of water per day….
The National Department of Water and Sanitation have issued the City of Cape Town with water licences to extract ground water. The department said all efforts were put in place to ensure that there is water during the tourism season.
Western Cape Premier Helen Zille
From Rusana Philander in Cape Town, TZ Business News.
As Cape Town and the entire Western Cape here in South Africa face the worst drought in 100 years the booming tourism industry won’t be affected by it.
It has been reported that Day Zero for water could arrive in March 2018, but the City of Cape Town has said if water consumption is reduced to 87 litres a day for each household, ‘day zero’ would not happen.
The tourism industry has also been commended by the Western Cape Premier Helen Zille, for their efforts to save water. Speaking at the biennial Ground Water Conference, Zille said: “We continue to call on the private sector, academics, experts and the whole-of-society to bear the responsibility of conserving this precious resource. We are pleased to see the way our partners in the private sector, especially in tourism, have embraced this message and continue to champion this cause.”
Zille said surface water has been most affected by the drought. This means the sustainable management of boreholes and groundwater extraction is vital moving forward, amongst other measures such as water recycling and re-use. The province is working with municipalities to manage their current supply. This includes imposing and enforcing restrictions, as well as infrastructure projects that will add to the water supply in high-risk areas,” she said.
Anton Bredell, the minister of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning in the Western Cape said they were doing everything protect communities: “We are doing everything that no community runs dry over the coming months. But we must advise that matters will in all likelihood only get worse from here on out until our next rainfall season,” he said.
At a recent water seminar in Cape Town hosted by the Federated Hospitality Association (Fredhasa), a water wise task team was established. The task team will help businesses with measures to save water. Many businesses in Cape Town also encouraging tourists visiting Cape Town, to rather shower than taking baths.
Currently the average dams levels across the Western Cape is about 35.7%. During the same period last year it was on 62%. Theewaterskloof Dam is currently at 27% (2016: 52%); Voëlvlei Dam is at 27% (2016: 72%) and Clanwilliam Dam 40% (2016: 99%). Brandvlei Dam is 33% (2016: 58%).
The National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC), also allocated about R80 million to the Western Cape government for drought relieve. The City of Cape Town was allocated R20 812 483, Bitou local municipality R10 920 000 and the Theewaterskloof municipality R 3 133 780. The provincial department of agriculture was also allocated R40 000 000. This comes after the NDMC received funding requests from the Western Cape department of local government.
The City of Cape Town has implemented a water resilience plan. Cape Town Mayor Patricia de Lille, said: “We will only get through this severe drought together. As a city, we need to do all that we can to get additional water supply on track, but also to continue with water augmentation and saving.
We will supply while Capetonians save and by working together, we will make it through the drought. We are asking all of our water users to help us as we continue to help you in ensuring that water is supplied. We cannot do this without you and it is only through this partnership that we will be able to stretch our water supply to avert a true disaster.”
According to the National Department of Water and Sanitation, they have issued the City of Cape Town with water licences to extract ground water in Cape Town. The department said all efforts were put in place to ensure that there is water during the tourism season.
