WATER FOR CAPE TOWN: 370 YEARS OF ‘NOT QUITE ENOUGH’
Professor Jenny Day, University of Cape Town
Thursday 26 January
1.00 pm
COURSE FEES R110
Cape Town’s settled population has always grown faster than its water supplies. From the Governor’s cry in 1663 for all hands to build a reservoir, through agitation for more water in the 1700s, and again in the 1800s, and again in the 1900s, Cape Town’s city managers have fought against drought. Sometimes their efforts have resulted in decades of abundance of water but in other times, the city has come perilously close to Day Zero. This lecture is set against the unlikely stories of the perils of navigating the streets of the city at night to an aeronautical calamity, and an exploding Adderley Street.
Recommended reading
Brown, C.A. and Magoba, R. 2008. Rivers and wetlands of Cape Town: caring for our rich aquatic heritage. South African Water Research Commission Technical report TT376/08 (available at: www.wrc.org.za).