CAPE TOWN - Mayor Dan Plato on Wednesday said the City of Cape Town will be looking at relaxing water tariffs at the end of the hydrological year in October/November to provide some additional relief to city residents.
This follows after heavy downpours in parts of the Western Cape in recent days, which has seen a significant increase in dam levels across the province.
Delivering his speech during a full sitting of the city council on Wednesday morning, Plato said: “Let me now share with you some good news, as some of you may have already heard, our dam levels are now over 72% full. And our residents continue to be water-wise, for which we are very thankful as this is a clear demonstration of the wonderful working relationship that government should have with its residents. As a result of these levels, we will, of course, be looking at relaxing tariffs at the end of the hydrological year in October/November to provide some additional relief to our residents.”
Cape Town's dams were on average 72% full on Tuesday. The department of water and sanitation (DWS) also welcomed the increase in dam levels. According to a statement issued by the department, the rainfall, accompanied by snow that fell in the catchment areas of the province, have improved dam levels significantly in recent weeks.
DWS spokesperson Sputnik Ratau said the fact that the ground is soaked has assisted the run-off from rainfall catchment areas to speedily flow into dams. “This run-off will hopefully penetrate other water systems including ground water,” Ratau said.
He said the recent hydrological report suggested a notable improvement of the Western Cape Water Supply System (WCWSS) which includes the largest dam in the province, Theewaterskloof.
The levels of WCWSS are currently at 71.86% as compared to 56.46% at the same time last year.
The Clanwilliam Dam in the West Coast Region continued to see a week on week improvement and is currently standing at 71.67%.