The Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry says there is no justification for the drought charge the City Council wants to introduce to compensate for the loss in revenue from water saving and lower sales.
In a letter of objection to the new fee, Ms Janine Myburgh, President of the Chamber, said the City should find ways to reduce its costs just as any private sector company would do in these circumstances.
You cannot punish customers for buying less of what the City cannot supply anyway.
For ten successive years, water tariff increases had been well above the inflation rate and in four of those years the increases had been more than double the CPI.
“We further reject the idea of basing an extra fee on the valuation of property.
Many property owners have gone to great lengths to save water.
They have installed well points, grey water systems and bought tanks to capture rain water.
They are deserving of our gratitude for their water savings, at their own cost, will mean more water will be available for others.
They should be rewarded,” Ms Myburgh said.
The situation was similar to the electricity crisis where high tariffs had forced consumers to use power more efficiently and to look for alternatives.

Weather service: Drought conditions visible across state FLAGSTAFF (AP) — Drought conditions have returned to Arizona because of precipitation well below normal since August.
A drought monitor released Thursday by the National Weather Service shows much of extreme northern Arizona and northeastern Arizona in extreme drought and the rest of the state in moderate drought.
Current law exempts the first $2,500 of military pensions from state taxes.
The governor did not spell out in the speech how much he wants that increased.
Capitol Media Services Legislator on Pacific trip missing most of session’s start PHOENIX (AP) — A state representative who is missing most of the beginning of the Arizona Legislature’s annual session says her husband surprised her with a trip to the South Pacific rescheduled on short notice to celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary and 50th birthdays.
Fish and Wildlife Service say flights will be conducted between Jan. 22 and Feb. 3 near Alpine, Arizona, and Reserve, New Mexico.
The last annual survey indicated there were at least 113 wolves.
EPA settles with company to assess uranium sites CAMERON (AP) — Federal officials have reached a settlement to have eight abandoned uranium mines assessed on the Navajo Nation.
Brnovich says current tuition and mandatory fees at Arizona State University are 315 percent higher than they were in the 2002-03 school year.
That figure is 325 percent for Northern Arizona University and 370 percent for the main campus of the University of Arizona.

Johan van der Merwe, mayoral committee member for finance in the city, said they believe that a “drought charge is critical” in order to make up the shortfall of revenue in order to “increase the security of our water supply”.
“There will be a council meeting on Friday next week to consider the comments received and to determine the way forward regarding water resilience in the City of Cape Town.” He said that any decision taken at the meeting will inform the adjustment budget “that will be tabled for council for approval at the end of January 2018”.
In a statement issued by the City in November last year, taps are set to be turned off once the dams reach a level of 13.5%.
Once this happens, residents will have to collect their water supply from one of 200 water collection sites that will be spread out across the city.
These watering sites are expected to cater to an estimated 20000 people per site every day.
Dr Kevin Winter from UCT’s Environmental and Geographical Science Future Water Institute said the idea of water points are certainly a wake-up call; however, he doesn’t believe that it will reach that point.
“The City has been quite good in helping us see what the reality is.
I really don’t think we are going to go down that route."
“To be honest, I think it is going to rain, I think we will probably get through this crisis.” Winter added he doesn’t believe the City is going to run out of water as he sees them being able to manage the crisis “very carefully”.
I think it is the approach of the drought levy that caused the real issue.

GREENWOOD — According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, Sebastian County is currently experiencing a severe drought, and according to city and state officials, the lack of rain is to blame for the recent drop in water quality in Greenwood.
The operators of the plants are aware of it and they are doing what they can but until it rains and fills up the reservoir, they are going to struggle.” Stone said he has been in close contact with the James Fork Regional Water District, which provides the majority of Greenwood’s water, and the samples that the Department of Health has been receiving from James Fork have been shown to be safe.
Treatment plants are tested in 10 different areas each month and more frequently when there are any issues.
Donnie Sandifer, general manager at James Fork, said the reservoir is at its lowest point since it was built and is currently 16 feet below normal.
“The lake has turned over,” Sandifer said.
Bodies of water turn over when the warm surface water begins to cool.
As water cools, it becomes dense, causing it to sink.
This dense water forces the water on the bottom to rise, turning over the layers.
Greenwood purchases 80 percent of its water from James Fork during the winter months, according Greg Cross, water treatment director for the city.
Greenwood is under contract with James Fork to buy 15 million gallons each month.

The cities are Sao Paulo, Brazil and Cape Town, South Africa, and the maritime sector offers several options for providing potable water to such cities.
Changing Weather Patterns The cities of Sao Paulo and Cape Town depend on prevailing winds to carry humidity from the ocean toward coastal mountains, where the humidity usually condenses into rainfall.
This technology is commercially available and wealthier citizens who live in humid, drought affected regions have invested in such technology.
Authorities in Brazil are evaluating several locations to develop seawater desalination.
The equivalent of flush toilets operated using seawater, with corrosion-resistant plumbing having being made from wood, clay and porcelain.
Brazilian coastal cities such as Belem, Fortaleza and Recife are located close to the Amazon River where water tanker ships could collect potable water.
Long-distance pipelines represent the modern version of the aqueducts and are long-term investments.
Such aircraft can also be used where large bodies of potable water are located in close proximity to drought stricken agricultural regions.
Drought could occur almost anywhere.
Transportation technology and/or pipelines may be suitable for locations where drought stricken regions are in relative close proximity to large bodies of potable water.

This drier weather pattern across the South is consistent with what is expected during a La Niña winter.
(MORE: What La Niña Conditions Mean for Winter in the U.S.) The latest update from NOAA indicates that La Niña conditions are expected to persist through winter.
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, "over the last 60 days, extensive areas of the country have recorded below 25 percent of normal precipitation, from the Southwest into the central Plains and Midwest as well as in the Southeast and into the Mid-Atlantic."
In addition, as of Jan. 9, "some areas of the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles and southern Kansas have gone 95-100 straight days with less than 0.10 inches of precipitation, with several locations reporting no precipitation at all during that time."
In addition, almost 77 percent of the region is currently abnormally dry compared to just over 8 percent in early September.
In the South, which includes Tennessee and Mississippi westward into Texas, only 0.45 percent of the region was seeing drought conditions on Sept. 5, and that percentage has jumped to 45 percent as of Jan. 9.
The percentage of the area that is at least abnormally dry has also dramatically increased from just under 3 percent in early September to almost 74 percent in early January.
However, the weather pattern that has been in place has brought colder-than-average temperatures so far this winter to much of the southern and eastern U.S., with temperature the greatest above average in the Southwest.
(MAPS: Weekly Planner) Given the expectation that La Niña conditions will last through the winter and will then transition to neutral conditions, neither La Niña or El Niño, this spring, there are concerns that drought conditions will worsen.
The precipitation outlook from NOAA indicates that generally drier-than-average conditions are expected through March from the Southwest into the southern Plains and much of the South.

Grant Twigg, Cape metro leader, said it will recommend to the City of Cape Town caucus that the proposed drought levy not be supported at the next council meeting.
We believe the City should prioritise its budget and actively and robustly engage the national government on the needs of the City, as water sourcing is their core competency,” he said.
In December, the City of Cape Town approved that a special drought levy, voted in favour of by over 120 DA councillors, would be introduced in February pending public participation.
So no final decision has been taken.
We cannot burden our people further and we want this decision to be rescinded,” he said.
Xolani Sotashe, ANC Cape Town leader, said the DA’s double standards were now clearer than ever.
Let me remind Twigg that you have already voted in favour of a drought levy, hence the announcement by De Lille.
“You now want people to believe the drought levy is De Lille’s issue?
Cape Chamber of Commerce president Janine Myburgh said: “We reject the idea that some form of surcharge on water users would be appropriate to cover the revenue shortfall.
You cannot punish customers for buying less of what the City cannot supply anyway.” @JasonFelix jason.felix@inl.co.za Cape Argus

Smoke could be seen for miles beyond Fort Hood Tuesday, when the Fort Hood Natural Resources Management Branch was conducting controlled burning on the southwest side of the Fort Hood range to clear out underbrush, as announced by the Fort Hood Press Center.
In contrast on Monday, Coryell County Judge John Firth issued a statement that effective sunrise on Tuesday, the ban on outdoor burning imposed on Dec. 11, 2017 was reinstated and will remain in effect until sunset on Monday, January 22 when the Commissioners’ Court will reassess the risk of controlled burning.
Conditions remain dry throughout much of north, central, and East Texas, with Coryell County and other surrounding counties meeting criteria for moderate drought conditions.
Compared to one year ago, conditions are worse statewide and have continued a pattern of drying, as per the United States Drought Monitor, updated weekly.
During the first week of January 2017, only 6.29 percent of the state was considered in moderate drought.
For the first week of 2018, those numbers are 33.56 percent.
Still, 33.37 percent of Texas is not experiencing any drought at this time, unlike 81.50 percent in 2017.
1, is at 91.7 percent capacity.
Statewide, water capacity has been on a downward trend since October when compared with 2016, and so far for January, lakes and reservoirs are at 82 percent capacity.
Presently, Lake Georgetown is the only lake in the Brazos River Authority that is under a stage 1 drought watch.

FORT COLLINS, Colo. (CBS4)– Nearly all of Colorado is now abnormally dry or worse on the U.S. Drought Monitor.
“This isn’t unprecedented but it’s certainly on the low end of the distribution.
It looks somewhat similar to what we saw in the 2002 and 2012 type drought years,” said Peter Goble with the Colorado Climate Center at Colorado State University.
“This is largely based off of a concerningly low snow year in the western portion of Colorado,” Goble said.
Adding that there is only a five percent chance the mountains in the San Juan Mountains reaches average or normal amounts.
Water managers say despite the lacking snowpack Colorado’s reservoirs are at or above average.
“If you look especially at the eight to 14 day timeframe, the things aren’t necessarily lining up to get worse.
Jeff Todd joined the CBS4 team in 2011 covering the Western Slope in the Mountain Newsroom.
Since 2015 he’s been working across the Front Range in the Denver Headquarters.
Follow him on Twitter @CBS4Jeff.

While snow and bitter cold have dominated our discussion of weather so far this winter, a moderate drought has been quietly creeping into central Virginia over the past several weeks.
Friday’s predicted rain will be helpful for the low streams, lakes and rivers, but it will take more than one soaking storm to stave off groundwater shortages and agricultural impacts during the next growing season.
The rest of the state is classified as abnormally dry, or one step away from showing drought impacts.
A recent report from Virginia’s interagency Drought Monitoring Task Force noted that drinking ponds for livestock are "nearing critically low levels," according to some producers in the western part of the state.
As of Jan. 4, mandatory water-use restrictions remained in place for customers of the Louisa County Water Authority, with voluntary restrictions advised in Strasburg and Front Royal.
No part of Virginia has any sort of short-term surplus, but the Tidewater region has been a bit wetter (and snowier) compared with the other regions.
That’s less than one-third of the typical Dec. 1-Jan. 11 amount of 4.33 inches.
The last time Richmond had less rainfall over the same period on the calendar was during the winter of 1985-86.
Some of this winter’s precipitation total came from rain, and some of it was the liquid equivalent of the snow.
On average, most of our snowstorms are a bit wetter, with a ratio of 11 to 12 inches of snow per 1 inch of liquid water.