The Western Cape Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning Department will have spent R78.2-million by March 31 on drought alleviation projects across the province.

The average dam level in the Western Cape was 51% on Monday, nearly double the 26.5% recorded in the corresponding week last year.

The dams feeding water into the City of Cape Town have an average level of 62.6%, up from 28.3% in the same week a year ago.

“The department is working with other national and provincial stakeholders to identify and implement immediate, medium and long-term solutions for sustainable water supply and management,” Western Cape Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning Minister Anton Bredell said on Monday.

He highlighted some recent projects such as the drilling and outfitting of multiple boreholes.

In Laingsburg, the department is working on the construction of a bulk pipeline between the Zoutkloof spring and the main reservoir, as well as the equipping and electricity connection of two boreholes to the Zoutkloof line.

The rehabilitation of the Zoutkloof spring, which started in November, remains ongoing.

The department also installed a borehole pump and provided Eskom connections in Matjiesfontein.

The funding also assisted with the successful maintenance of a water reticulation plant in Beaufort West over the high-demand New Year’s weekend, as well as coordinating the delivery of bottled water to multiple regions at times of high demand.

The department also deployed additional capacity in the form of engineers and geohydrologists to the Central Karoo, which is experiencing an ongoing drought.

“We have faced some extreme situations over the past few months including the massive fires in the George area late last year. That was followed by the Wupperthal disaster and, more recently, the ongoing fires in the Overberg district,” Bredell said.

“The successes we have had, to date, can only be lain at the door of the capacity we have built up in the Western Cape over the past ten years.”

He highlighted that the initial access to just six helicopters and two spotter aircraft and no runways to operate from in 2009 has improved significantly to the current access to 30 aircraft, including water bombers, and 34 runways spread across the entire province.

“This is an example of the capacity building that is critical to enable a province to tackle the disasters we’ve been dealt.”