Bold talk as crisis tightens grip on city

COUNTDOWN to Day Zero:

Agriculture

Western Cape MEC of Economic Opportunities Alan Winde said his department had “invested R67 million in drought relief to support farmers to keep their businesses running” but this had still not yielded positive results.

Winde’s department issued a statement yesterday declaring that grape farmers “predict an even smaller harvest than previous estimates… possibly the smallest since 2005”.

“Drought conditions have been prevalent… for the third consecutive season with major dam levels currently around 26.6% compared with 41.6% in 2017,” said the department.

“Most producers depend on irrigation water from the various irrigation schemes that have been rationed since early in the 2017 growing sea- son. Water quotas have been cut between 50 and 80%. The lack of rain, shrinking water supplies and continual hot days can further lead to a smaller 2018 crop.”

Health

The Western Cape Health Department is rolling out boreholes at its facilities, with at least 10 000 litres already pumped daily at Karl Bremer hospital in Bellville. Department spokesperson Darren Francis confirmed yesterday that boreholes would also be activated at hospitals in Tygerberg and Khayelitsha.

“Other hospital sites across the province where there are existing boreholes are being tested for suitability of usage and functionality,” said Francis. He said annual water consumption at hospitals stood at 1.8m kilolitres of water per year.

“The provincial disaster management centre has a live risk register with contingencies and plans in place to ensure hospitals don’t run out of water,” added Francis.

“Our department also has a water preparedness plan that strives to conserve water and monitor water usage, as well as how we can mitigate the effect on service delivery.

“Boreholes may provide essential relief in the short term, but we have to be careful that we do not exhaust this source. In the longer term we are seriously considering rainwater harvesting.”

Tourism

Cape Town’s water crisis is making headlines worldwide, with newspapers such as the New York Times offering its readers travel tips to help save water.

This week it quoted mayor Patricia de Lille’s spokesperson Zara Nicholson, saying officials “certainly welcome and encour- age all tourists to Cape Town to visit our beautiful iconic city”.

“But many tourists are unaware of the severity of the situation until they hear pilots making announcements just before landing at Cape Town International Airport. Experts say there’s no reason for travellers to stay away, but raising awareness and water consciousness is essential,” states the paper.

German TV stations have also been running discussions on the water crisis and Canadian news service warned its readers about the drought. “Cape Town could be first major city to run out of water – in 90 days,” it reported.

“The city, which is also an iconic tourist destination, has less than a 90-day supply of water left in its reservoirs, meaning residents are forced to ration by taking short showers, flushing the toilet only when necessary and recycling bath-

ing water.”

Taking action

WWF SA this week launched its Wednesday Water File, a weekly update on the city’s water crisis. It will include advice on how to save water. Among its advice in the inaugural service this week it urged Cape Town’s residents not to stockpile water. “We should all have some emergency reserves of drinking water safely stored at home but you are not allowed to stockpile large volumes from municipal supplies. Do not fill up your rainwater tanks using municipal water.”

Various organisations are also taking action to save water. The non-profit group Awqaf SA is involved in a pilot project to fit water-conserving taps at mosques, starting in Manenberg. These taps output a light spray instead of a gush of water which Muslims use to cleanse before prayer.