The First Two Dry Years

Abstract

The supply system dams exceeded storage capacity and spilt in 2012, 2013 and 2014. Thus for the first half of 2015, dam levels were no cause for concern. But rainfall in the winter of 2015 resulted in little more than half of average runoff, and Cape Town introduced water restrictions. Because the national department of water and sanitation (DWS) did not impose regional water restrictions, allowing agriculture and some municipalities to draw excessively from the supply system during the long hot summer of 2015/2016, the system then experienced the greatest ever decline in dam levels in one year. The year 2016 heralded slightly better runoff, but at only two-thirds of average, prompted DWS to introduce restrictions while Cape Town increased restriction levels. A convincing victory for the Democratic Alliance in the local government elections in 2016 won mayor de Lille a second term in office, and the mandate to fundamentally change the City structure. By year-end of 2016, the threat of water scarcity was recognised as the top detractor of the Cape Town brand.

When the well is dry, we know the worth of water

–Benjamin Franklin