Summertime and we still need to Think Water. Cape Town’s water consumption has increased to 752 million litres/day for the week (9-15 December 2019).
With current dam levels down to 78,6%, the City of Cape Town urges residents to remain water-wise.
Let’s continue to think, act and respond positively towards our collective water saving efforts.
Think Water Cape Town Green Map
The new edition of the Think Water Cape Town Green Map will provide you with a better understanding of the Mother City’s water supply and how to promote a sustainable, water-wise lifestyle. Cape Town is the world’s #1 water-saving city. Please keep using water wisely so that we remain number 1.
Cape Town is a water-scarce city that is diversifying its sources of water, but it still gets most of its water from rain-fed dams. The catchment areas feeding our dams are relatively pristine, but need to be preserved. The alien invasive plants in the catchments suck up water before it can get to our dams, and there are programmes to remove them to increase the yield of water to the Western Cape water supply system.
Cape Town has one of the highest densities of threatened plant species in any metropolitan area on earth, so these plants need to be protected. Cape Town lies within a “biodiversity hotspot”, the Cape floristic region, and is recognised globally for its extraordinarily rich, diverse and unique fauna and flora.
The protected areas are conserving critically endangered ecosystems that sustain the flora, fauna and ecosystem services we are dependent on, including the valuable water catchments, rivers, groundwater recharge areas, recreational and storage water bodies.
The City’s substantial network of rivers and wetlands perform a dual function, acting as a habitat for aquatic fauna and flora, as well as a natural infrastructure asset for the management, treatment and conveyance of storm water and treated wastewater effluent.
‘Mountain of the Sea’ is a literal translation of the Khoi word, Hoerikwaggo, regarded as the earliest known description of Table Mountain. It was the supply of fresh water from the springs that attracted the Dutch East India Company to establish a half-way house to supply water and fresh produce for their ships travelling between Holland and the Far East.
The Company’s Garden is the remaining half of the Dutch vegetable garden planted in the 1650’s and overlaid by a later Victorian ‘romantic garden’. Recently, an area has been rehabilitated to recreate the original produce garden, which now supplies The Company’s Garden Restaurant.
Until 1897, Cape Town relied on spring river water, flowing off Table Mountain, which usually reduced to a trickle in the summer months. This supply challenge changed with the construction of Cape Town’s first dam in 1896, the 954 ML Woodhead Dam on Table Mountain.
Think Water Cape Town Green Map highlights a selection of places to visit which will introduce you to the Great Green Outdoors and Water-Wise Cape Town.
You can pick up a print copy of the Think Water Cape Town Green Map at Cape Town Tourism Visitor Information Centres (including Kirstenbosch and Cape Town International), City Libraries, SANParks and Cape Nature locations.
Please also visit City of Cape Town’s Think Water website for all water-related information and Frequently Asked Questions.
See also Cape Town Green Map
