World Water Day is celebrated annually on 22 March with National Water Week taking place between 20 and 26 March 2022. These special calendar days are aimed at educating the public about their responsibility in water conservation initiatives, raising awareness around the need to protect and conserve the country’s scarce water resources. The theme for World Water Day 2022 is Groundwater: making the invisible visible.

When it rains, some of the water ends up in rivers and dams but most of it sinks into the soil. It then flows through the soil and around rocks. When it hits a barrier such as a solid sheet of rock, it collects and forms underground lakes which are called aquifers. This groundwater plays an important role in our daily lives. The Boland mountains for example (consisting of Hottentots-Holland, Groot Drakenstein, and the Groenland mountain ranges) supply 97% of all Cape Town’s water. A significant part of these mountain ranges falls into CapeNature managed protected areas.

The Boland Mountain range and the protected areas within it is not the only range in the province that serves as a catchment for both surface water and groundwater. The Cederberg, Riviersonderend Langeberg, Swartberg, and Outeniqua mountains all contain large land parcels of CapeNature managed protected areas, all of which ensure the conservation of strategically important sources of water. The significance of the groundwater supply comes into play during the summer months when the summer baseflow consists mostly of groundwater in the Mediterranean climate in most of the Western Cape Province.

The important relationship between people, the environment, and the economy needs to be considered in the exploration and sustainable utilization of groundwater as a water supply source. South Africa is known to be a water-scarce country. In the Western Cape, a large proportion of our water supply comes from groundwater, and we need to use this valuable resource sustainably.

Saving water is everyone’s responsibility and there are many ways to save water. Cut your showers down to two minutes - long showers use lots of water. Don’t leave your taps running while you brush your teeth - rather use a glass of water. Hold off washing small bundles of clothes and rather wash full loads. Plant indigenous plants and trees as these use less water. Always remember every drop counts, save water.