Photo by: Reuters
The Western Cape government on Monday renewed its call for citizens to reduce their water consumption, as the average level of the province’s dams now stood at 28.4%.
Western Cape Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning Minister Anton Bredell said the continued drop in the province’s dam levels meant immediate and clear steps needed to be outlined.
“We are meeting with Western Cape municipalities this week to deliberate on water management. We remain optimistic that by reducing consumption, we will reach the rainfall season with water in the dams.”
The Cape Town dam system, comprising the Wemmershoek, Voëlvlei, Steenbras upper and lower, Theewaterskloof dam and the Berg River dam, stood at 29.45%, down from 30.95% last week and from 37.04% this time last year.
Meanwhile, the Western Cape Disaster Management Centre has also been coordinating the combating of multiple fires across the province.
Bredell described the 2016/17 fire season as “very challenging and dangerous”.
“From November 1, 2016, to February 25, Working on Fire aerial support teams have flown more than 1 561 hours in firefighting. This has a huge impact on budgets and man hours, but is a vital part of combating fires across the Western Cape,” said Bredell.
He added that, ten years ago, the Western Cape experienced an estimated 12 000 fires for the full year. “Over the past three months alone, we have recorded more than 17 000 fires across the province.”
He said the extreme conditions, in particular, strong wind and high temperatures along with dry conditions, have contributed to the current situation.
“Ninety-seven per cent of all our fires are extinguished within the first hour, but the ones that get out of hand are very challenging. We want to call on the public to use extreme caution around open flames. In the current conditions, any open flame can swiftly wreak havoc and devastation,” Bredell highlighted.