Yesterday the City’s Water and Sanitation Directorate signed a tripartite agreement with French partners, The Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières (BRGM), the French Geological Survey, to help improve Cape Town’s sustainable supply and strengthen the City’s management of groundwater schemes/programmes. Funding of €500 000 (R8.3 million at current exchange rates) will be provided for technical cooperation and research.

The City of Cape Town’s Water Strategy sets the course toward a future in which Cape Town has sufficient, reliable water from diverse sources, including groundwater, so that we can be more resilient to the impacts of climate change. It also outlines other City commitments to wise water use, safe access to water and sanitation services, regional water system collaboration and becoming a water sensitive city.

The City identified the Cape Flats Aquifer, upgrading the Atlantis Aquifer scheme as well as the Table Mountain Group Aquifer as resources that can be used in a responsible way to augment water supply within the Western Cape Water Supply System (WCWSS). This is also supported by the National Department of Water and Sanitation, through the update of their Reconciliation Strategy for the Western Cape Water Supply System (WCWSS).

The City is working towards bringing approximately 105Ml/day of groundwater online to contribute to our supply by 2036, as part of the New Water Programme and the Water Strategy.

The funding of €500 000 (R8, 3million at current exchange rates) from the AFD is for a two year collaborative project with the technical team of the Water and Sanitation Directorate. It aims to assist the City with reaching its groundwater goals, and learn from international best practice.

To achieve this objective, AFD asked BRGM to share knowledge and practical training with the City, covering three main components:

• Groundwater forecasting: implementation of a modelling tool to anticipate groundwater level decrease according to meteorological scenarios;
• Training and capacity building in using the forecasting modelling tool;
• Characterisation and impact evaluation of ‘Contaminants of Emerging Concern’ (CEC) in storm-water collected for aquifer recharge. The Future Water Institute of the University of Cape Town will be associated with the BRGM’s team on this water quality component of the project.
• ‘BRGM is happy and proud to launch this project with the City of Cape Town. Our engineers and researchers have been involved in groundwater management in France and worldwide for two decades. This project has been made possible thanks to the funding of the AFD and the support of the Regional Economic Department of the French Embassy in South Africa,’ said Jean-Philippe Rançon, Deputy Head, International Division of BRGM.
• ‘The City’s groundwater projects are progressing well and are already at different stages of development. Our team is very excited and grateful to be collaborating with AFD and BRGM so they can share their international technical expertise with us to improve and build our capacity to manage and develop groundwater resources in Cape Town.
• ‘I am confident this investment will play an integral role in building Cape Town’s resilience against future climate shocks such as droughts so that we can ensure a continued reliable water supply for our residents, businesses and visitors,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Water and Sanitation, Councillor Zahid Badroodien.
• ‘The innovative approach developed by the City of Cape Town will inspire other cities in the world facing similar climate challenges. This project will benefit the population of Cape Town, and the lessons learnt will also benefit many others in the world,’ said Deputy Director for AFD in Southern Africa, Audrey Rojkoff.

Source: City Of Cape Town