Capetonians should be wary of declining dam levels: Greenpeace Africa

Greenpeace Africa said Cape Town residents should be concerned, but not panicking, over declining dam levels.

The city’s dams are currently at 53.4%, a stable but closely watched level.

However, daily water consumption continues to exceed the city’s target of 975 million litres per day.

Greenpeace Africa spokesperson Shumirai Zizhou warns that if high usage continues for several more weeks, dam levels could drop faster than projected, shrinking the buffer ahead of winter rainfall and potentially forcing the city into reactive measures.

Zizhou said this is a critical moment for Capetonians, and one that requires urgent behavioural change in how residents use water.

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"However, Cape Town is not at a Day Zero scenario yet, but consumption patterns are moving in the wrong direction at a vulnerable time of the year."

She added that a reduction of 50 to 75 litres per person per day across the metro would significantly ease pressure on dams.

"As the mayor has emphasised early voluntary reductions are far more effective than emergency restrictions, and this is really about collective responsibility, and everybody truly needs to play their part."

Zizhou said limiting shower times, attending to leakages are some of the actions residents could take to help.

"We should also be looking at watering gardens on a need-to-be basis. We should avoid washing cars with hose pipes and avoid unnecessarily washing cars and being quite regimented about that."