#EveryDropCounts: Dam levels in the Western Cape drop dangerously close to 50%

Cape Town - The average dam level in the Western Cape following the holiday period is currently 52.3% (2017: 27.8%).

Dams that supply the City of Cape Town with water have an average level of 63.7% (2017: 29.4%).

Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning MEC in the Western Cape, Anton Bredell, says the provincial government has been hard at work over the past six weeks.

“Over the holiday period, we experienced a devastating fire in the Wupperthal community. The provincial government stepped in immediately and mobilised multiple partners and stakeholders. To date thanks to the hard work and efforts from partners including the West Coast District Municipality, Cederberg and Matzikama municipalities, water, electricity and communication infrastructure has been restored. Further recovery operations remain in effect.”

With regards to the ongoing drought in the Karoo region of the Western Cape, the situation remains serious but no town has to date run out of water.

Several ongoing interventions have been initiated successfully. This includes assisting with the successful maintenance of the Water Reticulation plant in Beaufort West over the high demand New Year’s Weekend as well as coordinating the delivery of bottled water to multiple regions at times of high demand.

The Department of Local Government is coordinating all the efforts in Central Karoo and have deployed additional capacity in the form of engineers and Geohydrologists to all the municipalities in the Central Karoo. The department is working with other national and provincial stakeholders to identify and implement immediate, medium and long-term solutions for sustainable water supply and management.

Bredell says firefighters are still combating a wildfire that broke out in the Overstrand District Municipality on New Year’s Eve.

“Conditions have been largely unfavourable and challenging to firefighters but efforts will continue until the situation has been fully contained. At this point I want to thank each and every individual and entity who has assisted us over the past year in combating the various disasters we have been managing and those that are still assisting even at this moment," he said.

"These include emergency workers, firefighters, sea rescue workers, lifesavers, NGOs and many others who help keep the Western Cape safer. The year ahead may send more challenges our way but together we will tackle them head on.”