South Africa's Cape Town moves back to August 'Day Zero' forecast

Reuters
Debris is seen as water levels fall to about 24 percent full at Voelvlei Dam, one of the region's largest water catchment dams, near Cape Town, South Africa December 5, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South Africa's city of Cape Town said on Wednesday that if no rainfall comes then "Day Zero", when the taps are predicted to run dry, would be pushed back to 27 August from July 9, and that the bullet could be dodged completely this year. "Provided we continue our current water savings efforts, Day Zero can be avoided completely this year," deputy mayor Ian Neilson said in a statement. "The city now projects that, if there was to be no rainfall, Day Zero would arrive on 27 August 2018. As this date falls deep within the normal rainfall period, it is no longer appropriate to project the date without any consideration of rainfall," the statement said. (Reporting by Wendell Roelf; Editing by Ed Stoddard)