CAPE TOWN – The Western Cape is facing a mounting water crisis as dam levels continue their precipitous decline, with Cape Town Metropolitan dams now sitting at just 66.0% capacity – a dramatic 19.7 percentage point drop from the same period in 2025, according to the latest provincial dam level report released on 12 January.
The crisis has been fuelled by an almost complete absence of rainfall across the province since the New Year, with major water supply dams recording an average of just 0.6mm of rainfall over the past seven days.
The Cape Town System Dams, which supply water to over four million residents, have experienced a catastrophic decline from 85.6% capacity in January 2025 to just 66.0% this week. This 19.7 percentage point drop represents one of the steepest year-on-year declines in recent memory, pushing the system below the critical 70% threshold that typically triggers water restriction measures.
The decline shows no signs of abating, with dam levels dropping a further 2.2 percentage points in just the past week alone.
Across the broader Western Cape province, the situation is even more dire. Overall provincial dam levels have crashed to 58.0% – an alarming 22.7 percentage point decline from the 80.7% recorded in January 2025. This represents the lowest January level in years and places the entire province in a precarious water security position.
Knysna has been severely hit and has only 10 days of usable water left as the Akkerkloof Dam, Knysna’s main water storage facility, has plummeted to below 19% capacity.
A breakdown of major Cape Town supply dams reveals the extent of the mounting crisis:
- Steenbras Upper: 85.8% (down 10.7% from 2025)
- Steenbras Lower: 62.7% (down 15.8% from 2025)
- Voëlvlei: 74.8% (down 11.8% from 2025)
- Berg River: 68.0% (down 19.3% from 2025)
- Wemmershoek: 72.9% (down 8.2% from 2025)
The Theewaterskloof Dam, a crucial component of Cape Town’s water supply system and the largest dam in the Western Cape, has been particularly hard hit with an almost 25% decline from last year’s levels, with a level now of only 61% in comparison to 85,7% in 2025.
While historical 10-year comparison data shows the province has weathered water crises before, the current combination of factors – the steep year-on-year decline, rapid weekly depletion rates, and absence of rainfall – presents a particularly challenging scenario for water managers.
Currently water usage in the Cape Town Metro is also sky rocketing, with the Metro reporting that daily usage is being exceeded by more than 70 million litres a day. This despite various warnings on water consumption.
Experts are saying that the provincial government and City of Cape Town should have implemented the first stages of water restrictions in December 2025 to educate the broad public on water conservation. The current trajectory suggests that without immediate and substantial action the province could face severe water shortages in the next year.
Residents are being urged to implement immediate water-saving measures.
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