Waterways of Hope: Fully Fund the Liveable Urban Waterways Programme in Cape Town

A petition by Zandvlei Catchment Forum, Friends of the Liesbeek, Friends of Constantia Valley Green Belts, Zandvlei Protected Areas Advisory Committee, Friends of Kirstenhof Wetland, Kirstenhof and Environs Residents Association and Young Urbanists NPC

The recent major budget cuts by the City of Cape Town to the Liveable Urban Waterways (LUW) Programme will have devastating consequences. It will delay vital projects, designed to both protect our city's rivers, wetlands, and water catchments, and to improve water quality, ecological health, and community livelihoods until 2036!

We are calling on residents, environmental advocates, and supporters of sustainable urban development to join us in urging the City of Cape Town to fully fund the Liveable Urban Waterways Programme. 

What does this mean?

Years of dedicated work and significant financial investment have gone into the initial stages of the LUW programme's rollout. This included comprehensive studies and extensive public engagement to determine the sites and designs for the first phase, with implementation initially planned for 2024-2025.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source: Sand & Langevlei Canals in the Zandvlei Catchment

Unfortunately, recent severe budget cuts by the CoCT have led to a disappointing delay in the progression of most LUW project sites, pushing their expected start date back to 2036. In short, it means: 

• This is a massive blow to our commitment to becoming a Waterwise City by 2040 leaving only 4 years to achieve this target!
• It is a massive blow to our commitment to conserve and promote biodiversity within our City.
• It is a massive blow to improving the experience of nature within the City for many less fortunate citizens unable to travel far distances to access open green spaces.
• It is a massive blow, especially to the Zandvlei Catchment where five of the six projects to be implemented have been cut.

These cuts jeopardize not only the Programme's ecological and social benefits but also the very resilience and water sensitivity of our city in the face of climate change. Stand with us as we petition the municipality to honour its commitments by ensuring full funding for the Liveable Urban Waterway Programme, thereby safeguarding our environment for future generations to come!

Why is this important? 

The City of Cape Town is facing rapid urbanisation which together with global issues such as climate change is putting the survival of our urban ecosystems especially our waterways, at serious risk.

These natural assets provide important ecosystem services critical to the livability of our city.

Due to massive pressure on our freshwater resources the City of Cape Town has committed to become a water-sensitive city by 2040.

The Liveable Urban Waterway Programme (LUW) is a key programme created by the City of Cape Town to protect and conserve our freshwater resources as well as biodiversity by addressing the dire state of our wetlands and river systems.

The many positive impacts of the LUW projects include:

1. Biodiversity improvements, including expansion to the endangered Western Leopard Toad and other amphibian habitats and the removal of alien plant invasives.
2. Increase in ecosystem services including critical water quality improvements, trapping of sediments and vast quantities of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
3. Fixing damaged infrastructure and repairing erosion.
4. Reducing flood risk.
5. Replenishing our aquifers by restoring wetlands which will slow the flow of surface water to the sea. This will facilitate the movement of fresh surface water through the wetlands where it is ‘scrubbed’ by plants and micro life through the topsoil and subsoil into underlying groundwater.
6. Improvements in the use of the waterways by communities, including much-needed improvements to social infrastructure in disadvantaged communities where these waterways pass through.
7. Improvements in non-motorised transport routes adjacent to the waterways, especially providing more dignified and safe river crossings for those living adjacent to rivers and wetlands.

The threat of biodiversity loss and the extinction of many endemic species, climate change, drought, and freshwater contamination and loss is urgent and pressing. We do not have the luxury of time to wait for remedial actions to take place.

We need to stand together to put pressure on our leaders to prioritise the conservation of our urban green spaces and our urban waterways as a matter of urgency for all the current and future generations of City Cape Town. 

Given the importance of our waterways and catchments, a delay of this magnitude is unacceptable. We must raise our voices for our beautiful natural spaces and the biodiversity that is a hallmark of the City of Cape Town and demand that budgets be allocated so that the LUW projects roll out as planned.

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Contact hello@youngurbanists.co.za or WhatsApp Roland Postma at 076 451 8656 if you want to be part of this petition or if you have any questions.

This petition is supported by many local and domestic environmental organisational groups.

Why and what is LUW?

Cape Town is blessed with many inland waterways; however, many are in a poor state due to years of development, land use changes and pollution in the catchment areas. The situation needs to be reversed. 

Creating liveable waterways is necessary to build adaptability to climate change, improve ecosystem health, create safe and usable spaces next to the waterways and improve water quality. All of these are key to Cape Town’s goal of becoming a water-sensitive city by 2040. 

The Liveable Urban Waterways (LUW) Programme is rehabilitating waterways across Cape Town, using water-sensitive design, nature-based solutions and green infrastructure. It was developed in response to the Climate Change Strategy, Water Strategy, Resilience Strategy and Environmental Strategy.