Steenbras Dam, June 2019 – Photo: Heart FM / Twitter
Steenbras Dam, June 2019 – Photo: Heart FM / Twitter
You’ve got to celebrate your victories wherever they come from, as they tend to be few and far between with the Cape Town dams. Unfortunately, water levels are still on the decline, but they have dropped by a number that is well below the weekly average.
The facilities usually lose between 1% – 1.25% of their reserves in the run-up to summer. But for both the Mother City and the Western Cape, recent rainfall has helped arrest the slide by a substantial amount.
The Cape Town dams are now 47.89% full, losing just 0.77% of its total this week. The system which serves the province is only down by 0.85%, too. On its own, this may not be too much to shout about: But even more rain is forecast for Good Friday after this weekend’s downpours, and the omens are good in the south-west.
Anton Bredell is the minister of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning in the Western Cape. Despite the small improvement in affairs, he was very much guarded and reminded residents of the Cape that the threat of drought is still very real in certain regions:
“Following our visit to the region last week, we have noted that the high-risk areas include Beaufort-West, Laingsburg and Kannaland. The provincial Department of Local Government will continue to provide these Municipalities with dedicated professional support and technical advisory services for as long as it takes.”
“In the past financial year, the department has spent R82.5 million towards disaster relief projects across the province. This excludes other support measures provided by other provincial departments including the Department of Agriculture’s support to farmers and farmworkers.”
Anton Bredell