Cape Town’s dam levels
Cape Town’s dam levels
Dams supplying Cape Town are 62.7% full and that number is expected to rise
Dam levels have risen across the Western Cape over the last few weeks, with major dams like Bergriver seeing a 7.2% increase. According to reports from 29 June, City of Cape Town dams has reached 62.7% capacity, compared with 51.8% at the same time in 2019.
CAPE TOWN CAN EXPECT A MILD WEEK AHEAD
After a weekend of heavy rains, Capetonians can enjoy a mild and cloudy week ahead. Some light showers are expected on Thursday 2 July, but the weather should clear up heading into the weekend. Sunday 5 July may see some rain too.
29 JUNE 2020: CAPE TOWN MAJOR DAM LEVELS AT 62.7%
The latest update from the City of Cape Town shows that the total level of the major dams is at 62.7%, up 3.9% from last week’s level.
CAPE TOWN: LEVEL 1 WATER RESTRICTIONS
Cape Town is currently in level 1 water restrictions. You are allowed to water your garden between 5pm and 7pm every day, you can use handheld hose pipes between 4pm and 9am and you can top up your swimming pools.
THE VIDEO THAT GOT THE WORD OUT TO THE WORLD THINGS WERE GETTING BETTER
At the end of June 2018, after heavy rainfalls, we decided to go and see the levels of the dams for ourselves. After the horror images of a near-empty Theewaterskloof went all over the world it was important to see things looking up to some extent.
The footage was shared by hundreds of hospitality industry, thousands of readers worldwide – as well as featured on CNN. It reached over 600 000 people globally within the first 5 days.
THE BACKGROUND TO CAPE TOWN’S WATER SITUATION
In 2018 Cape Town came close to becoming the first major city in the world to run out of drinking water. However, Capetonians pulled through. We took two-minute showers instead of baths, we used “grey” water to flush our toilets and we only flushed when necessary. Those who could afford to buy water tanks did so and saved the rainwater off their roofs while the hospitality industry invested in water re-usage systems and the government installed desalination plants.
Cape Town has come a long way and is used as a water success story all over the world. We’ve learnt from our past and we’ve adjusted our future. Today, our dam levels are up, we can irrigate our gardens, wash our cars and have 3-minute showers because Cape Town pulled through together.
Source: capetownmagazine.com