The City Of Cape Town is planning to consult with National Government to increase its powers over boreholes. Earlier this week the City announced that the total storage had fallen by 1.3%. And as of this week dam levels stand at 29.7%.
The City does not have jurisdiction to tell residents what it can do with its water pumps but the Department of Water and Sanitation does have that right. The City wants the mandate to restrict the use of borehole water and they want National Government to help enforce it.
The City’s Water and Sanitation director, Peter Flower said, “Our national department is looking at a way to give us the ability to incorporate a more rigorous role to play in limiting people’s use of these aquifers or possibly restricting them to certain times as we previously did with normal water use.”
Flower added that they have embarked on a drive to have all boreholes registered to get a sense of how many residents in Cape Town are tapping into natural water sources.
Earlier this week they also said a groundwater survey revealed that at least 150-million liters of water per day can be delivered by the Cape Flats, Table Mountain Group and Atlantis aquifers.
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