Event
The Future of Cape Town Water
This event is presented by The Water Center and is part of their Water Exchange Speaker Series.
Moderated by Howard Neukrug, Executive Director of The Water Center.
South Africa’s second most populous city, Cape Town recently almost ran out of water in the infamous “day zero” due to the combination of an ever growing demand, a supply reliant solely on rainwater and a one in 600 year drought. Day zero, initially predicted to come on April 12, 2018, would have seen the city of 4 million people with water taps shut off after a devastating three-year drought that nearly depleted the region’s entire dam storage. Cape Town has realized that this reliance on rainwater, with the threat of climate change and likely future supply constraints, is a major vulnerability to providing sufficient water to its residents. As a result, the city recently released a Water Strategy that puts forward a plan to become “water resilient” along with a number of other reforms to improve water and sanitation services. Michael Webster, head of Cape Town’s water department will present this plan and the way forward to a water secure future for Cape Town Water.
The Water Center at the University of Pennsylvania is a trans-disciplinary applied research center focused on solving today’s urban water challenges. Aligning the University of Pennsylvania’s academic resources with water practitioner expertise, the Water Center at Penn combines policy, science and technology to create equitable, resilient and sustainable solutions.