Cape Town water outlook rated 4/10 as dam levels hover at 60%

Cape Town’s immediate water outlook has been rated four out of 10, despite dam levels sitting at around 60%.

Zahid Badroodien, MMC for Water and Sanitation at the City of Cape Town, said they’re not yet in crisis territory but warned that high water usage remained a concern.

Dams are in the green, but usage is too high

Badroodien said the City’s assessment was based on dam levels and projected rainfall, as well as engagements with the Western Cape government.

He said provincial authorities recently confirmed that the metro should have sufficient water heading into winter, potentially keeping it out of a ‘red zone’ scenario.

“Even with the provincial government’s own determination, we’re still very much in the green space,” he said.

However, he acknowledged that water consumption trends were worrying.

“We’re well above our allocated usage, which is provided to us by DWS,” he said, adding that about 70% of the city’s water is used by households.

He urged residents to cut their household consumption by at least 10%, saying this alone would bring the city back under its target and help prolong dam supplies.

November ‘too late’ for restrictions?

Longer-term forecasts suggest the Western Cape could receive below-average rainfall this winter, although confidence in such projections remains limited.

Engineers have reportedly advised that if conditions do not improve, water restrictions may be introduced by 1 November.

But Badroodien conceded that waiting until then could be risky.

“If we are going to safeguard the remaining water supply, we must make a decision much earlier than November,” he said.

He indicated that the city would reassess the situation in June or July, when rainfall patterns become clearer, and could implement restrictions sooner if necessary.

“Waiting until November is simply something that cannot happen if these scientists and modelling trends are showing us that this decision must be made much earlier.”

Augmentation only from 2031

The first large-scale water augmentation projects are only expected to come online in 2031.

That means Cape Town must manage demand over the next five years largely through conservation and behaviour change.

Since November, the City has run awareness campaigns encouraging voluntary reductions in water use. But daily consumption has not dropped significantly.

Badroodien said the next phase would include water inspectors targeting heavy users, alongside intensified communication efforts.

“Those targeted interventions will essentially help us over time,” he said.

He added that restrictions remained a last resort but acknowledged they could not be delayed if conditions worsened.

Cape Town previously imposed strict water restrictions during the 2017/18 drought, narrowly avoiding ‘Day Zero’ when taps were expected to run dry.

For more detailed information, listen to Badroodien using the audio player below: