Cape Town dam levels increased by 20 percent in a week, City of Cape Town continues its water-secure mission

The City of Cape Town said the unprecedented heavy rain which hit the city recently has led to an increase of dam levels by 20% and currently dams stand at 95.2%.

Last year this time, dam levels were at 99%.

Regardless of the dam status, the City of Cape Town said it will be continuing on its mission to build a water-secure future for its residents.

In the first 15 days of July 2024, the Wemmershoek Dam received more rainfall (460mm) than the previous record of 433.5mm for the month of July since 1992. Dam levels increased by 25%. Last year in June was the only month since 2008 where it rose more than this, by 30%.

The City’s Water and Sanitation Directorate said in the face of climate change and unpredictable rain, it continues to invest in Cape Town’s New Water Programme (NWP) to help provide a resilient water-secure future for residents.

Mayoral committee member for water and sanitation, Councillor Zahid Badroodien said the recent rains give a false sense of water security.

“We appreciate the heavy rain that has been filling our dams, but we cannot allow this to give us a false sense of water security for the future. Cape Town has learnt that we cannot solely rely on dams for water security, so the City is busy investing in its NWP. This includes projects such as desalination, groundwater schemes and reuse, which are at various stages of progress.

“Collectively through these projects, we are working towards increasing supply by an extra 300 million litres of new water every day by 2030. This is part of the City’s long-term Water Strategy to help reduce Cape Town’s dependence on rainfall and dam storage as our primary water supply to navigate future climate shocks and droughts. This is over and above the current interventions to ensure optimal water use and will assist in enabling Cape Town to become resilient to climate change,” Badroodien said.

The NWP includes:

– Water Re-use: Implementing purified recycled wastewater adding 70 million to 100 million litres a day.

– Desalination: Extracting salt from seawater to yield 50 million to 70 million litres a day.

– Clearing of invasive plant species and various management interventions: Harnessing water from rivers to contribute an additional 30 million litres a day.

– Groundwater: Drilling boreholes and tapping springs, securing over 100 million litres a day.

“Having a resilient water supply is vital for our growing city, to benefit our residents and to attract more investment to Cape Town for economic growth. Our residents are also key partners in Cape Town’s water journey, so we thank them for contributing to building our water future, be it from paying their water bills to making water-wise decisions in their daily lives. While the City is investing in the NWP, residents are reminded to be water-wise at all times, regardless of the season or the status of our dams,” Badroodien said.

What does your water tariff cover?

According to the City, residents pay between 6c - 8.5c a litre on average for Cape Town tap water.

The water tariff is made up of both a usage (or variable) charge, which depends on how much water is used, and a fixed basic charge.

This tariff is used to recover the cost of supplying a reliable water service. This includes the operational cost associated with the establishment of major infrastructure catchment and treatment of water, operation of the distribution systems as well as repairs and maintenance of infrastructure such as:

– 11,319km of water pipes

– 12 water treatment plants

– 180 reservoirs

– More than 9,266km of sewer pipes

– 490 wastewater pump stations

– 92 water pump stations

– 23 Wastewater Treatment Works

– 296km of treated effluent pipes

– 11 treated effluent pump stations

These costs remain largely the same regardless of the dam levels and the volumetric usage, and therefore, the tariffs are set to recover the cost of providing the service.

With dams at 90% capacity, why is a fixed basic charge part of the water tariff?

The fixed basic charge is part of the total water two-part tariff structure, consisting of a fixed basic charge and a consumption-based volumetric component, that the City needs to recover the cost of supplying a reliable water service.

“It is needed so the City can continue to pay for and provide reliable water services to Cape Town. Should the fixed basic charge be removed, it will lead to a significant deficit and the standard usage part of the tariff will need to be substantially increased,” Badroodien said.

The fixed basic charge creates stability and reliability in the Water and Sanitation Directorate’s revenue forecast which is used to fund the directorate's operating expenditure and the operational cost associated with the Capital Expenditure Programme. This includes projects such as the NWP, the Water Pipe Replacement Programme and other projects that will help build a resilient service.

The City has noted that the fixed basic charge remains in place and said this charge is not a penalty or a surcharge. It further stated indigent registered households do not pay the fixed basic charge part of the water tariff and continue to receive an allocation of free water and sanitation.

Can a lower tariff be expected with dams at more than 90% capacity?

According to the City, the lowest (no restriction) tariff has been in effect from November 1, 2020. The cost of providing the water service remains largely the same regardless of how much or how little water flows through the system and water residents use, or is in our dams.

robin.francke@iol.co.za

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