Cape Town - The heavy rainfall in the past week has seen the average level of dams in the province rise by 13% from 55% to nearly 68%, according to Local Government and Environmental Affairs MEC Anton Bredell.
A year ago the average dam level for dams across the province was 45%. Meanwhile, large dams such as the Clanwilliam Dam have increased from 23.6% to 74% in one week. The City’s dam levels increased to 89.2% which is 26.2% higher than last year at the same time.
“Three years ago at this time, the City was at the end of a devastating drought with dam levels low following a threat of a day zero event in the metro,” said Bredell.
“This week the dams providing water to the metro has seen their levels increase from an average of 75% to 90%, an incredible number in a very short period.
“We remain concerned as always about the Gouritz River catchment area and we hope to see some relief in that region too.”
Urging consumers to continue to use water sparingly despite the fuller dams, he said: “Water will always be a scarce resource and we must adjust our behaviour change permanently.
“We need to do more with less. Overall, across the province, we are fortunate to be in the position we are in at the moment but we always need to look ahead and plan for the future.”
Cape Town Mayco member for water and waste management Xanthea Limberg said: “Daily water consumption in the metro for the last week increased to 729 million litres per day, compared to 706 million litres the week before.”