Dam levels have improved by 3,9%, rising to 65,9% of storage capacity since last week. Water restrictions and associated tariffs remain in place; however, the City has advocated for a conservative relaxation of the restriction levels, which would pave the way for the associated relaxation of the restriction tariffs. The average water consumption for the past week was 535 million litres per day, which is an increase from last week’s consumption of 513 million litres per day.

The City of Cape Town is very encouraged to see dam levels rise above 65% after significant late-winter rainfall. It is hoped that this latest rain could provide sufficient motivation for finally easing the water restrictions. This decision is currently being considered by the National Department of Water and Sanitation.

Any relaxation of restrictions will at first be conservative. We cannot return to a business-as-usual attitude to water without risking water security in the years to come.

‘The rainfall over the past few weeks, combined with continued saving efforts by the vast majority of residents, has seen dams fill to levels the City hasn’t seen in years. We have managed to steer ourselves away from disaster, but must now start considering how best to manage our recovery going forward,’ said Executive Deputy Mayor, Alderman Ian Neilson.

‘Although much work is planned over the next few years to augment the City’s water supply and continue to create awareness about water conservation, we must remember that we live in a region with a semi-arid climate. At the moment, we will still rely on our dams to provide the majority of our water. Given the unpredictable nature of our rainfall, it is imperative that we diversify our supply for the future, and entrench the water-saving mind-set we have cultivated over the past year,’ said Alderman Neilson.