Cape Town urged to reduce water use amid worrying dam levels

Cape Town is facing growing water pressure as dam levels continue to decline and consumption remains above target, raising concerns about possible shortages later this year.

The City of Cape Town's main dams were 69% full at the start of the week, nearly 30 percentage points lower than at the same time last year, while daily water use is averaging just over one billion litres, well above the city’s target for this time of year.

Mayoral Committee Member for Water and Sanitation Zahid Badroodien says a weaker-than-expected winter rainfall season, combined with extreme summer heat, has driven higher consumption.

With little to no rain expected until winter, officials warn that dam levels could drop into the low 30% range by the end of April, leaving Cape Town vulnerable if the next rainy season underperforms.

The city has launched a public awareness campaign urging residents to reduce household water use, warning that restrictions remain a possibility if consumption does not fall.

Badroodien emphasises that early behavioural change is critical to avoidingstricter measures, stressing that many residents wrongly believe recent heavy rains were enough to secure water supplies.

"I think when residents go back into their pre-drought behaviour, it's under the false impression that the previous rainy season was adequate. I often hear from residents that we had lots of rain, and the dams must be full. But what they don't realise is that over the entire hydrological year, which runs between essentially April and October, there was lower-than-average rain in our dam catchment areas.

"So, despite Cape Town specifically having short periods of very heavy rains, where our dams are located outside of our municipality, there may not have been sufficient rains to fill them up to where we needed them to be prior to summer."

To listen to Badroodien in conversation with CapeTalk's John Maytham, use the audio player below: