2015-present Cape Town drought

A photograph of the poster issued by the Western Cape government calling for people to conserve water due to the 2017 water shortage.

The city of Cape Town has been experiencing a drought since 2015 when water storage in the city's dam levels began to drop, declining from 71.9% full in 2014 to 50.1% in 2015.[1] By the end of May 2017 the drought was declared the city's worst in a century, with dams and reserves having less than 10 percent of their usable capacity.[2] Significant droughts in other parts of South Africa also occurred at the same time but ended in August 2016 following a period of heavy rain and flooding in the interior of the country.[3]

In June 2017 a significant storm hit the area dropping up to 50 mm of rain. This did not manage to break the drought.[4]

Water levels as a percentage of total dam capacity by year.[1]
Major dams May 2017 2016 2015 2014
Berg River Dam 32.4 27.2 54 90.5
Steenbras Lower 26.5 37.6 47.9 39.6
Steenbras Upper 56.7 56.9 57.8 79.1
Theewaterskloof Dam 15 31.3 51.3 74.5
Voelvlei Dam 17.2 21.3 42.5 59.5
Wemmershoek Dam 36 48.5 50.5 58.8
Total stored (megalitres) 190 300 279 954 450 429 646 137
Total % Storage 21.2 31.2 50.1 71.9

Causes

Three identified causes of the drought are the El Niño weather pattern,[5] climate change, and increased water demand due to population growth.[1][2] Since 1995, Cape Town's population has grown from 2.4 million residents to an estimated 4.3 million by 2018 representing a 55% population increase in 23 years whilst dam water storage only increased by 15% in the same period.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Bohatch, Trevor (16 May 2017). "What’s causing Cape Town’s water crisis?". Cape Town: Ground Up. Retrieved 2017-06-01.
  2. 1 2 Van Dam, Derek (31 May 2017). "Cape Town contends with worst drought in over a century". CNN.com. CNN. Retrieved 2017-06-01.
  3. ↑ Masinde, Muthoni (18 August 2016). "Southern Africa faces floods after drought". Retrieved 2017-06-01.
  4. ↑ "Cape storm isn't a quick fix for drought, warns City of Cape Town". News24. Retrieved 2017-06-15.
  5. ↑ "Frequently asked questions about South Africa’s drought". Cape Town: Africa Check. 3 February 2016. Retrieved 2017-06-01.
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