Water Minister Nomvula Mokonyane said a plan to access the last 10% of water in the city’s dwindling dams would take effect next week.
The deputy director-general of water affairs and sanitation‚ Trevor Balzer‚ said the last 10% of stored water would guarantee supply for the city of 4-million people for another 11 to 14 weeks.
Speaking during a media tour at Theewaterskloof Dam‚ Cape Town’s biggest‚ Balzer said work would start next week on a diversion weir and a canal at the dam.
This would move the remaining water in the dam to the intake tower. Construction would cost between R3m and R5m‚ and the weir and canal would be permanent so they could be used in future dry spells.
"We are going to have to bring in some emergency pumps at some stage‚" Balzer added.
He said he disagreed with critics who blamed the government’s management of the drought for the water shortage.
"I think that we managed the situation very well … it’s 40 years since our dams have been as low as they are‚ so it’s an unusual event."
De Lille hosted an inter-faith prayer meeting for rain on Thursday at Table Mountain’s lower cableway station.
"This week‚ our dam level storage stands at 20.7%. With the last 10% of the water mostly being unusable‚ dam levels are effectively at 10.7%‚" she told the religious leaders who attended.
The city council was spending R315m on emergency schemes‚ and "as I have called on residents and businesses to work with us‚ I am also calling to religious leaders to help us and pray for rain".
TMG Digital
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