Cape drafts disaster plan – economy at risk

The Western Cape will have
to reduce its dependency on
rainfall and surface water
if it is to survive the current
drought and water crisis.
Gareth Morgan, director of
resilience at the City of Cape
Town, said a disaster plan
was currently being drafted
and would be released within
the next couple of weeks,
addressing the worst case
scenario.
Day zero, a term locally used
for the day when the water
dries up, was not an option, he
said, and all efforts were being
made to avoid this.
He said eight more tenders
for water generation were
being issued during October
while several tenders were
currently being finalised as
part of the city’s plan to bring
500 million litres of water per
day online early next year.
The plan includes
groundwater extraction,
small desalination plants,
desalination barges in the
ports of Cape Town and
Gordon’s Bay, as well as several
barges at sea. Tenders were
also out for re-usage water
projects.
Bringing 500 million litres
per day on line would cost the
city around R3.3 billion.
But, said Morgan, Cape
Town residents and business
would have to decrease water
usage further. “We are not
going to implement more
restrictions, but only about
half of residents are meeting
the 87-litres-per-day target.
Commercial water users need
to reduce consumption by
20%. Not everyone is doing
this and the city is going to
get stricter to ensure these
restrictions are adhered to.
Water shedding is not an
option at present.”