Cape Town’s efforts to boost its water supply are running a little bit late — and a new city report warns that the slowdown could force the return of water restrictions if projects don’t speed up.
But the city’s water boss, in response, said there was no “immediate risk” and his department was working hard to secure Cape Town’s water future.
He said officials were making sure the city stayed “resilient” against future shortages.
According to the City of Cape Town’s Water Outlook, delays in key projects had pushed back the city’s flagship New Water Programme by at least a year, threatening the goal of producing 300m litres of new water a day by 2030.
The report, seen by , warned that more delays could force the city to bring back water restrictions and put its 2030 supply target at risk.
“Further project implementation delays in implementing the New Water Programme will increase the probability of imposing water restrictions,” said the report which was presented to the Mother City’s water and sanitation portfolio committee in October.
“As new schemes are delayed, there is an increased risk of imposing low-level restrictions earlier and more frequently to avoid the risks of more severe restrictions.”
The programme lay at the heart of Cape Town’s plan to ensure the taps never ran dry again.
It was designed to make the city less dependent on rainfall by adding new, more reliable water sources.
It included tapping underground aquifers, recycling treated wastewater and desalinating seawater to boost supply.
But the report confirmed the timeline for completing these projects had slipped from 2030 all the way to December 2031.
The city blamed the delay on a mix of red tape, lengthy approval processes, strict checks for high-value investments, the experimental nature of the work and the rising cost of infrastructure.
Together, these challenges had slowed progress on several of Cape Town’s biggest and most expensive water schemes.
Among them were the Berg River–Voëlvlei Augmentation Scheme, which was rescheduled for 2029, and both the Faure New Water Scheme and the permanent desalination plant, which were only expected to come online in 2031.
The report described the Berg River–Voëlvlei project, managed by the national water and sanitation department, as “critical for Cape Town’s water security”.
Because of these delays, the city could no longer meet several of the goals set in its 2019 water strategy.
That strategy had aimed to bring new water schemes online five years ahead of demand and to prepare for severe droughts that could occur once every 200 years.
Officials had since adjusted their plans, adopting milder climate forecasts and aiming to launch projects as they became necessary rather than far in advance.
The report also raised alarm over rising costs.
Since 2019, the price of producing new water had surged.
Desalination had more than doubled in cost — from R24 to R50 per cubic metre — while conventional surface water schemes had also become more expensive.
The city said these increases would eventually filter down to residents through higher water tariffs, though bulk water costs made up only a small share of what households paid.
“Balancing water security and consumer affordability requires careful management,” the report said, adding that the cost of water was expected to climb substantially in the coming years.
There was currently no immediate risk of water restrictions.
But the city cautioned that temporary, low-level restrictions might be needed in the next few years as it dealt with ageing infrastructure and prepared for maintenance on the Riviersonderend Tunnel — the system that carried about half of Cape Town’s water from the Theewaterskloof and Berg River dams.
The outlook showed that Cape Town’s water system remained stable, with healthy dam levels and steady consumption.
Average water use sat at about 160 litres per person per day, down from more than 200 litres before the 2018 drought.
The city said the drop showed that “water-wise” habits adopted during the drought had become a normal part of life.
However, the long-term savings also meant there was less room to cut back if another crisis hit.
The report warned that reducing consumption by more than 20% would have “significant impacts on households”, while cuts above 30% were “believed to be no longer possible”.
A new water conservation and demand management strategy was expected to be presented to council later in 2025 to help slow the growth in demand as the population increased.
sent a string of questions to the city after reading the report.
Water and sanitation political head Siseko Mbandezi said his department was committed to diversifying Cape Town’s water sources.
“We review the long-term balance between available water supply and projected demand to ensure the city’s resilience against future water shortages,” he said.
“From a water resource perspective, there is currently no immediate risk of water restrictions, and the city remains vigilant in monitoring potential risks arising from lower-than-expected rainfall or infrastructure challenges.”
He said the new water programme was not limited to the Faure New Water Scheme and the proposed desalination plant.
He said it consisted of four priority projects designed to augment Cape Town’s water supply:
- Introducing purified, recycled wastewater to add between 70m and 100m litres per day;
- Extracting salt from seawater to yield between 50m and 70m litres per day;
- Enhancing yield from rivers and dams, contributing approximately 30m litres per day; and
- Developing aquifers and tapping natural springs to secure more than 100m litres per day.
“The groundwater extraction and invasive plant clearing components were already under way, while work on the remaining projects continues to progress through their respective planning and approval stages,” he said.
“It should also be noted that the document being referenced was presented to the Portfolio Committee as part of its oversight function.
“The Faure New Water Scheme and the desalination project are currently undergoing assessments, during which their implementation timelines will be reviewed.
“Project timelines are impacted by rigorous regulatory processes that need to be followed, due diligence requirements for high-value investments, and affordability considerations.”
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