Cape town drought
CoCT taps into 'world's largest aquifer' to boost water supply
This forms part of the city's water strategy to make the municipality more resilient to drought and other climate shocks.
The City of Cape Town's Michael Webster said that the drought was a wake-up call during which many lessons were learnt and a water strategy was developed.
This time last year, residents were being constantly warned of so-called day zero, the day when the city's taps would run dry.
Officials say the metro will rely on rain-fed dams for most of its water, as it is much cheaper than alternative supply sources.
Jaco Minnaar, chairman of Grain SA, an industry body that represents grain producers, said the reduced plantings could have devastating impact on the financial status of the farmers.
Water consumption has increased by 46 million litres per day to 587 million litres per day but that's below the Level 3 usage limit of 650 million litres.
Cape Town Tourism says the industry is looking at about a 4% growth this year after it took a knock over the past year due to the drought in province.
An initial R53 million has been committed to the new Greater Cape Town Water Fund, which has been pioneered by global conservation organisation Nature Conservancy.
The average water consumption for the past week increased from 546 million litres per day to 563 million litres per day.
Dams feeding the City of Cape Town have reached 70% capacity.
The municipality has on Monday announced level 6B water restrictions will be relaxed to level 5 from 1 October.
Pippa Hudson gets an update on the Western Cape drought from Deon Smit, Founder of South African Water Warriors.
City of CT's Jean Marie De Waal says rainfall is difficult to predict and that Cape Town should carry forward its amazing water-saving efforts to build a buffer for the summer months ahead.
Cape Town dam level readings from 30 July.
Heavy rainfall in the Western Cape over the past two weeks has lifted the average dam levels to above the 30% mark.
Many household owners say they now harvest rainwater for various purposes in and around the house.
Environmental Affairs MEC spokesperson, James Brent-Styan, says although dam levels are increasing, a lot more rain is needed before the end of the winter season.
A University of Cape Town climatologist, says that based on the current rainfall statistics, Cape Town can expect a normal year ahead.
Two weeks ago, consumption was 507 million litres per day compared to the previous week's 542 million litres per day.