Cape Town - There is little to smile about as the city faces its worst drought - despite Day Zero being pushed back to July 9.
At a press briefing on Thursday Cape Town deputy mayor Ian Neilson said the City was assessing the risk of uncontrolled and unknown variables such as rainfall.
Over the past week the average consumption was 516 million litres a day with dam levels dropping 0.4% to 24%.
“The city needs to continue reducing consumption in line with Level 6B water restrictions if we are to avoid Day Zero,” Neilson said.
He announced the progress of the City’s augmentation projects which are still on.
“Regardless of rainfall or water supply augmentation, Cape Town needs to continue striving to reduce average daily consumption to 450 million litres a day,” Neilson said.
“These projections can be further adjusted to reflect different levels of consumption.”
Neilson also said that the impact of its augmentation programmes was also considered.
The desalination plant at the V&A Waterfront is expected to be operational this month, Neilson announced.
He added that the City’s Disaster Risk Management Centre is continuing to finalise its Day Zero plan.
“The City’s Disaster Risk Management Centre will continue working to finalise its Day Zero operational plan so that it can be rolled out at any point in the future if required.
“We will continue to take a conservative approach with our planning to ensure that we are prepared for the worst case scenario,” Neilson said.
marvin.charles@inl.co.za