The City's harsh Level 6B water restrictions won't be relaxed until the end of next month, the Department of Water and Sanitation said on Friday, because dams first had to reach an average level of 85%.
Regional head of the Department of Water and Sanitation Rashid Khan said, after a high-level meeting on Friday to discuss the possibility of relaxing the restrictions, that the pace at which the Western Cape supply dams had been filling up was encouraging, but it was "nowhere near 85% where the restrictions can be lifted as per the Gazette of October 2017 and January 2018", News24 reported.
The restrictions will remain in place for Cape Town and surrounding towns, as well as for agriculture.
"Although the system's storage has recovered over the past weeks, rainfall trends for this season still do not show that we have received above average amounts cumulatively," Khan said.
The national department would hold another high-level meeting at the end of next month, with all sectors that use the Western Cape Water Supply System, to reassess the situation.
"The current water restrictions will remain as they are until the next meeting with water users in August. The rainfall trend up to that date will show the increase or decrease in the management of water restrictions," he said.
The combined level of the Cape supply dams was 55.8% on Thursday, compared to 53.05% last week. Theewaterskloof Dam, the largest in the Cape supply system, was 41.2% full on Thursday, compared to 20.3% at the same time last year.
Water experts say that to recover from three years of drought – the worst in 100 years – the region would need at least one rainy season of above average rainfall, but preferably two.
The meeting was held in response to requests from users of the Western Cape Water Supply System, including the City of Cape Town, irrigation boards and organised agriculture, to reassess the water restrictions now that winter rains have filled supply dams to 55.8% of storage capacity.
Cape Town Deputy Mayor Ian Neilson said on Thursday he would like to see water restrictions eased "progressively", from the strict Level 6B restrictions to the less severe Level 5, and then 4.
"This is so that the impact on water demand can be progressively assessed for each level before deciding on a further move," Neilson said.
Level 5 water restrictions allow Capetonians to use 87 litres a person a day, and level 4 restrictions allow 100 litres a person a day.