South Africa through the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs has committed US $37.6m to water projects in Cape Town following severe drought experienced in the city.
According to Cape Town Mayor Patricia De Lille, the droughts resulted in three years of very low rainfall.The funds will majorly be used for the the Cape Flats, Atlantis, and Table Mountain Group Aquifer recharge projects.
“I would like to thank these departments as well as the Western Cape Provincial Government for the role they played in facilitating access to this funding support,” said the Mayor.
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Water restrictions
De Lille also explained that the funds will be reflected on the City’s Informal Settlements, Waste and Water Services department’s budget to be spent in terms of the project delivery plan following the publishing of the grant in October. It will also reinforce the Municipality’s efforts to ensure water security and build a water-resilient City.
To help manage water crisis in Cape Town, the city lowered water restrictions from Level 6b and Level 6 respectively to Level 5 citing “the encouraging dam recovery and conservation efforts by residents” as the reason. The dams are steadily being replenished by the rainy season, and have filled up enough for the strict Level 6B restrictions to be marginally downgraded to Level 5.
De Lille however advised that although the city has received “very good” recovery rains, residents should remember to constantly stick to their new relationship with water and continue to both save and use it sparingly.
