Farmers donate water to fight shortage in Cape Town, SA
theweathernetwork.com
Tuesday, February 6, 2018, 5:00 PM - Drought conditions had South Africa's Cape Town poised to run out of water by April, but donations from farmers may have bought the city some time.
On Tuesday, the Groenland Water Users Association began the release of up to 10 billion litres of water in hopes of staving off the shortage.
The water was released from the Eikenhof Dam, on the Palmiet River in Grabouw. It will be pumped into city taps, and is expected to sustain visitors and residents for about 20 days.
Now, according to Cape Town’s deputy mayor, Ian Neilson, “Day Zero” -- i.e., the day when the city runs out -- has been pushed back to mid-May.
The water was donated by the farming community from the Elgin/Grabouw valley, who first approached city officials about donating water in 2017, after experiencing healthy rainfalls.
Some residents have ignored drought warnings
Councilor Xanthea Limberg, Cape Town's mayoral committee member for water, said the dire situation was being worsened by some people ignoring a push for residents and visitors to use no more than 87 litres of water per person per day.
Cape Town is home to many wealthy residents who have swimming pools and sprinkler systems, although the city does not want to play a "blame game" as lots of affluent residents are saving water, she said.
Businesses in the hospitality industry also say they are trying to help, limiting showers to two minutes and using water used for washing dishes and clothes to water gardens.
Authorities want to reduce the city's consumption to 500 million litres a day - half the amount used two years ago.
"Everyone is taking as many steps and measures that they possibly can to try and make sure we don't reach Day Zero," said Gabrielle Bolton, spokeswoman for the five-star Belmond Mount Nelson hotel.
Water levels are seen at about 24 percent full at Voelvlei Dam, one of the regions largest water catchment dams, near Cape Town, South Africa, November 8, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings
In a possible sign of things to come, security guards have been monitoring a steady flow of cars and people lining up at AB-Inbev’s Newlands brewery to get up to 25 litres of free water from a mountain stream on its property.
The popular Newlands public swimming pool across the road from the brewery has been closed due to water restrictions with still two months of the South African summer left to run.
City officials say dam levels dipped below 30 percent in the first week of the new year, with only about 19.7 percent of that water considered usable. Residents will have to line up for water when dams reach 13.5 percent.
"I am concerned we will run out of water and it is difficult," said Susan Jones, a grandmother who regularly visits the Newlands spring taps.
"We are making do. We have to."
(With Reporting by Wendell Roelf; Editing by Joe Brock for Reuters)
