Following last week’s heavy rains, the dams in and around Cape Town – which form part of the Western Cape Water Supply System – have reached total capacity of 38.1% according to the City of Cape Town which published the latest figures last Friday.
The largest dam, Theewaterskloof, has reached almost 30% capacity (29.7%) while Voëlvlei Dam has reached 36.3%.
However, while some agricultural producers are rejoicing at the abundance of rain, others in parts of the Overberg, the southern Cape, Karoo and north of Vredendal on the West Coast are still battling drought conditions.
“We are far from being out of the woods,” cautioned Agri Western Cape CEO, Carl Opperman, pointing out that Western Cape farmers had recorded more than R14bn in losses so far. “The water restrictions on farmers remain in place. Wine and citrus farmers have been the hardest hit by the water restrictions,” he said.
