Cape Town weighs summer water restrictions as dams sit near 75.5%

The City of Cape Town says its Water Restrictions Committee is looking at whether to bring in water restrictions ahead of summer as a precaution. Nothing has been imposed yet. The committee is weighing how full the dams are, how much water the city is expected to use, what summer consumption usually looks like and what the rainfall forecasts say.

The combined Cape Town dams stood at about 75.5%, compared with 92.4% at the same point last year, according to the City's latest update. Residents used roughly 855 million litres a day in the most recent period, which is a little below the 860 million litre daily goal set for winter.

Zahid Badroodien, who holds the water and sanitation portfolio on the mayoral committee, said the current water outlook does not point to an immediate threat to supply, but that the City is keeping a close eye on dam levels and demand patterns so it is ready for a range of scenarios. A drier and hotter summer is expected.

Residents are asked to keep using water wisely, since the City describes Cape Town as a water-scarce city. Saving tips are listed at capetown.gov.za/savewater.

Sources

Written by TheCapeTownHub in our own words from the reports below. Read the originals for the full story.

• Cape Argus (IOL) (main source)
• politicsweb.co.za
• timeout.com