Water scarcity under the spotlight in two-day Western Cape indaba

Western Cape Premier, Alan Winde attended the Western Cape Water Indaba in Cape Town, on Wednesday.

This comes as Wednesday marked World Water Day.

The two-day Indaba aims to bring together the three spheres of government, as well as experts in the field of water management and conservation, to discuss measures to manage this precious resource.

Studies by the Western Cape government found that overall, the annual growth rate of new water demand appears to remain higher than the population growth rate for the Western Cape.

The Western Cape 15-year Integrated Drought and Water Response Plan (WCIDWRP)– coordinated by the Western Cape Department of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning -  was detailed at the Indaba. This is the provincial government’s plan to strategically manage current and future water supply and demand.

‘’The strategy is a proactive, whole-of-government, and whole-of-society strategy to ensure the province’s water supply and demand are adequately managed going forward. This bold plan involves multiple Western Cape Government (WCG) departments working in concert to more optimally use water and invest more in water infrastructure. It looks at a short-term outlook that focuses on drought response and a long-term outlook that examines and plots out resilience planning,’’ said Alan Winde, Western Cape Premier.

“As catastrophic as the energy crisis is, it has and continues to teach us lessons, namely around thinking ahead, being proactive, taking precautions, and being prepared. From this crisis, we have to draw critical lessons on ensuring we manage a separate but equally important crisis: water scarcity,” said the Premier at the Indaba.

SUPPLIED - WCG: Western Cape Premier at the Western cap[e water Indaba

The Western Cape’s Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning MEC, Anton Bredell, reflected on Capetonians Day Zero

“It may be a cliché to say, ‘Water is life,’ but it is absolutely true. We came very close to this truth in Cape Town with Day Zero. We have since asked ourselves what we should do differently to prevent a similar situation in the future. It is a simple question, but the answer is complex. Due to climate change, the Western Cape is predicted to experience hotter and drier summers. We also have a fast-growing population and we need water for economic growth. As a government we have a responsibility to look after the most vulnerable in our province. This means a basket of free services, which includes safe and clean water. The 15-Year Western Cape Integrated Drought and Water Response Plan is our answer to these questions.”

Currently, dam levels in the Western Cape stand at 49.2%, this is a 0.3% decrease from last week. At the same time last year, dams in the province stood at 62.1%. Meanwhile, damns supplying the City of Cape Town stands at 55.4% compared to last week's 56.2%. Dams supplying the metro last year stood at 74.1%.

 

Done By: Mitchum George