Cape of Water
Cape Town is not only surrounded by water, but enmeshed with water, with 14 rivers and 10 wetlands, and has been shortlisted for accreditation as a Ramsar Wetland City. Wetlands sit between the surface water bodies and groundwater, and include vleis (marshes), lakes, rivers, ponds, estuaries and lagoons. Besides providing a habitat for all manner of creatures, they are home to plants that can filter and clean the water of pollutants. A Wetland City commits to conserve and carefully manage urban and peri-urban wetlands for their ecological and socio-economic benefits.
Cape Town is embedded in an extraordinary water system at the nexus of three of South Africa’s 22 strategic water catchment areas — Table Mountain itself and the neighbouring Boland and Groot Winterhoek ranges — and three of the country’s 37 strategic groundwater areas — the Table Mountain Group, Cape Flats and Atlantis Aquifers.
The Cape Peninsula has a Mediterranean climate with mild wet winters and warm dry summers. Rainfall is highest on the mountains, where it becomes streams and then rivers flowing towards the ocean, collecting in wetlands rich in biodiversity, which clean water and prevent flooding, and percolating through sand and rock into underground aquifers.
Read more on this excellent Water Stories website: http://waterstories.co.za/cape-town-water-sources/
Content covered:
Protecting Our Water Sources
Catching the Rain
Cracks in the System
Ground Water
Mountain of Springs
Public and Private Use of Springs
Table Mountain Group Aquifer
Managed Aquifer Recharge
The Cape Flats Aquifer
Highlighting the work of citizens, community organisations and scientists involved in water research and cleanups, Water Stories dives in to Cape Town’s water flows from a central map from where readers can find information and stories about Cape Town’s water spaces.