A presentation by the Urban and Water Thematic Group
Synopsis: “Never let a good crisis go to waste” seems to have been the motto of Cape Town, home to four million people. In 2018, because of a succession of five dry years the city reservoirs were depleted to the point that the international media was anxious to report on “Day Zero” when the city would have no water to distribute. In 2019, severe marine pollution affected beach tourism, a key economic activity of the region. And, in 2020 the Covid crisis-affected badly informal settlements where still half a million people live. The presentation will describe the program of technical, pricing, and communication measures that resulted in a spectacular reduction of the per capita water consumption, while still maintaining a 24/7 service. It will also discuss efforts made for improving access to minimum water service and basic sanitation in informal settlements. And finally, it will present the challenges of improving wastewater collection, treatment, and disposal and of upgrading water quality in streams that cross the city. Cape Town offers a very good example of integrated management of the urban water cycle.
Presenter: Mike Webster is, since 2018, the Executive Director of the Water and Waste Directorate of the City of Cape Town, that is responsible for the full water cycle from “source to tap” and “back to the environment”. The department serves the city’s population through 660,000 water and sewer connections and 20,000 km of pipeline, employs 4,800 staff and has annual operating and capital budgets of over US$500 million for water and US$180 million for waste (equivalent). He reports to the City Manager.
Prior to joining the City of Cape Town, Mike worked for the World Bank for 16 years as a water and sanitation specialist based in Washington DC. He joined the Bank through the Young Professionals Program and worked in operations in South Asia, Europe and Central Asia, and Africa with field assignments in Delhi and Harare. Mike was Task Team Leader for over 20 investment operations in water supply, sanitation, solid waste management, municipal services, rural infrastructure, environmental protection, and urban upgrading.
Mike graduated as a civil engineer from the University of Cape Town in 1990, went on to do an MSc in engineering at Loughborough University (UK) and a Master’s in Public Policy at Princeton University (USA).
Moderator: Alex Bakalian, of the coordinating committee of the 1818 Urban and Water Thematic Group
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