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MMC for Water and Sanitation Zahid Badroodien said that while there is no crisis at the moment, the City is preparing for the possibility of a drought.
Gallo Images/Brenton Geach
- The City of Cape Town has issued an early drought caution nearly a decade after the Day Zero crisis, warning that dam levels are at about 55%.
- Officials say dam levels are dropping weekly amid persistently high water demand.
- While forecasts for winter rainfall are still unclear, a lower-than-average winter rainfall could tip the city into a drought, officials have warned.
Almost 10 years after Cape Town experienced a drought so severe it sparked fears of a Day Zero scenario in which residents’ taps would run dry, the City of Cape Town is again sounding the alarm over possible drought conditions.
During a media briefing on Wednesday, City officials said that the dams Cape Town relies on are at around 55% – low enough that a below-average rainfall this winter could create drought conditions next summer.
MMC for Water and Sanitation Zahid Badroodien said that while there is no crisis at the moment, the City is preparing for the possibility of a drought.
“We need to make adjustments to our water usage now in order to try and avert as far as possible the risk of restrictions,” he said.
We are in an early drought caution.
Lloyd Fisher-Jeffes, technical services manager for water and sanitation, said that the City’s dams have dropped by about 2 percentage points per week. He said that water demand has remained stubbornly high since November.
“As a result, we’ve seen the dams go down quite rapidly compared to normal, particularly at the beginning of the season, as most users appear to be using almost their full allocation in the system,” he said.
In October, the City implemented early drought-prevention measures, calling on residents to reduce their water use. He added that there is clear evidence of a potential, but as yet unconfirmed, drought.
He said:
That means we need to be concerned, but it’s not guaranteed. We could get rain, and everything could be okay. Or we could continue with dry weather and find ourselves in a drought situation.
Fisher-Jeffes stressed that below-average rainfall this winter could push Cape Town into a drought.
He said that during the last hydrological year, the City’s two biggest dams – Wemmershoek and Theewaterskloof – had seen below average rainfall.
He said that the weather forecasts currently only cover the start of winter but indicate that winter could start later this year, with warmer temperatures persisting over the next few months. He said that once forecasts for June, July and August are available, the City would have a better indication of whether a drought is likely.
“Those are key rainfall months. We really can make more substantive analysis in April, and then monthly thereafter,” he said.
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He added that climate change has also altered seasonality and delayed rainfall.
The changes in seasonality could also have impacted demand for water, as hotter conditions began earlier than in previous years.
“The purpose of the early drought caution is to flag at least a year in advance that there is a risk, and we need to be prepared for what may eventuate. It all depends on what happens this winter,” he said.
Badroodien added that the City’s new water programme will produce 300 million litres of water from new water sources, in addition to surface water. However, many of these projects are only scheduled to come online in the next five years. This includes groundwater, water reuse, and desalination projects.
