What you need to know
Right now, the Western Cape is suffering an acute water shortage. This email is all you need to know about shooting here over this season.
Obviously the first and most important question is “can I come and shoot in Cape Town?”. The short answer is “yes!”, but here is the slightly longer answer so you understand the parameters.
1) We will tell you when it’s not safe to shoot here
Gatehouse is your trusted partner in Southern Africa, we are not going to allow your shoot to be compromised by even 1%. If we believe, based on our local knowledge, that there could be an issue, then we will tell you and suggest that you shoot elsewhere.
2) What is the real story?
Due to massive increases in demand over the last decade, our resources to supply water to the Western Cape are severely stressed. The outer lying dams in the agricultural areas are almost empty. However the dams closest to Cape Town (in the City Bowl and on top of Table Mountain) are full.
Our local government has unlocked national disaster money to rapidly roll out borehole drilling near the dams and desalination plants next to the sea.
3) What is “Day 0”?
“Day 0” is the current estimate as to when the dams start running dry and there is no more potable water to be distributed. Right now it sits at mid April, but every time it rains, that date gets pushed out.
The City Bowl and Atlantic Seaboard (where you will be staying) are to be spared the switching off of taps should Day 0 occur.
We monitor the situation every day and if your shoot could be affected, we will alert you at the bidding stage.
4) What can I do?
Residents of Cape Town have rallied amazingly and we try to keep our consumption down to 87l per day. We will help you do this. We issue you a card on your gift pack encouraging you to follow suit.
For the full picture of our current situation (science nerds only):
Dam Levels
Here are some useful articles about the issue:
IOL Article
