An overview presentation prepared for EMG's water and climate change seminar on the drought in October 2017.

1. Cape Town’s drought: some facts
and figures
EMG water and climate change seminar
18 October 2017
Taryn Pereira

2. Cape Town’s water services and climate change
EMG’s water and cc seminars have been
going for almost a decade.
The theme from the outset has been:
climate change is an exacerbating factor
impacting on already unequal services and
society.
CCT’s WDM strategy has been unequal:
• Secondary water scarcity is experienced
by many poor urban households
• Those who can pay could use as much as
they liked, and were left to self-regulate
• Poor households have had their water
restricted in many different ways

3. Cape Town’s drought - a truly extreme event
The very low rainfall of 2017 followed on from two relatively low rainfall years - the likelihood of this happening is
actually very small.
One researcher has calculated that 2017 is a 1 in 325 year drought and that the last two years represent a 1 in 1150
year drought! This is a very rare occurrence - which points very strongly to human induced climate change.
Cape Town (March) and Western Cape (May) have been declared disaster areas.
16 October 2017 City of CT press release:
Dam storage levels are at 37,4%, with useable water at 27,4%.
Consumption remains too high, at 600 million litres of collective usage per day. This is 100 million litres
above the crucial consumption target of 500 million litres per day.
At this rate, it is expected that surface water will run out in March 2018.

4. Cape Town’s supply side options (and the costs involved)
- City of CT plans to augment the system by up to 500 million litres of water a day over the coming
months using groundwater extraction, desalination, and water reuse.
- They will invest over R2 billion in new desalination, ground water extraction and water reuse plants; and
another R1,3 billion in operational costs in the next two financial years
- Water from temporary land-based desalination plants in Monwabisi and Strandfontein are expected to come
online by February 2018. From March 2018, additional desalination plants are expected to come online.
- Additional water from groundwater extraction at the Atlantis and Silverstroom aquifers is expected from
January/February 2018.
- The City of Cape Town’s Mayoral Committee has approved the creation of 43 temporary and eight
permanent positions to ensure a timeous roll-out of the City’s emergency water augmentation projects.
- The approval of new positions aims to address the staff requirements for water resilience projects such
as desalination (marine-, barge- and land-based), water reclamation, spring water and aquifer
extraction (C of CT statement, 12 September 2017).
The National Disaster Management Centre in the Department of Cooperative Governance has confirmed
that an amount of R20,8 million will be transferred to the City of Cape Town for emergency disaster
relief. However, DWS has not budgeted anything for drought relief in the Western Cape in 2018.

5. Cape Town’s current water restrictions
Level 5 restrictions (as of September 2017):
Upper limit of 87 liters per person per day
Cap on domestic property usage set at 20kl per month, beyond which fines will be issues (R5000 - R10 000)
Commercial properties must use 20% less water than they were using a year ago
Target of 500 million liters per day for whole City (DWS has stipulated that C of CT must reduce its consumption
by 40%, which amounts to 520 Ml / day).
Water management devices to be installed in high consumption households: there are currently 50 000
excessive usage properties, using more than 20kl per month. The City aims to install 2000 WMDs per week over
the short term (in indigent and non indigent categories).
All devices will be set at 350 liters per day (87.5 l/person in a 4 person hh). Households with more than 4
members must apply and submit an affidavit to receive more water.
Universal free basic water was scrapped in July 2017

6. A reminder of the restrictions that many residents have
lived with for years before the drought
Water management devices installed in working class neighborhoods and so called ‘indigent’
households since 2007.
Set to 350l/day, very difficult to make arrangements to receive more than this.
Under level 3b restrictions, it was stipulated that people with WMDs could NOT apply for more
than 350l/day, even while other residents were merely encouraged to use less than 100 l/day.
WMDs often cut off water entirely, due to technical faults.
No water for food growing or other livelihoods.
Reminder of Indigent policy: Home-owners with total income less than R4000 can apply for
indigent support; by agreeing to have a prepaid electricity meter and a water management
device set at 350l/day, they qualify for rates rebates and free refuse removal.

7. The Critical Water Shortages Disaster Plan - Oct 2017
Phase 1: Preservation restrictions - rationing
We are currently in Phase 1. There will be limited supply and advanced pressure management (supply to some
areas will be manually shut off at various times, and pressure will be reduced). There will not be a complete
shutdown of the water reticulation system, but some areas may experience water outages at times. No timetable
possible
Phase 2: Disaster restrictions
This will be implemented when total available surface water requires intensive water rationing to last until next
rainy season - aimed at maintaining life and critical services. Strategic commercial areas, high density areas e.g.
informal settlements and critical services like hospitals will still receive water through municipal connections.
Everyone else will have to collect drinking water from collection sites. SAPS and SANDF will be deployed.
Phase 3: Full scale disaster implementation
No more surface water. Drinking water from alternative sources available at distribution points. Critical services
significantly reduced.

8. Some questions to consider
1. How does this drought, and official responses to the drought, affect different people throughout the City?
2. Many middle class people are ‘going off the grid’, investing in rainwater tanks, implementing water
recycling measures at home, etc. What does this mean, in terms of inequality and future municipal water
management?
3. Is there a gendered impact of the drought, in your household or community?
4. Approaches to resilience to climate change at a household or community level often includes the
promotion of food growing - how is this possible without water? Should certain livelihood activities be
prioritized over others in a situation of water shortages?
5. What can we learn and what needs to change, to see us through this immediate crisis, as well as future
years of reduced water supply?