Berkeley Earth have just released a powerful new tool called Synthesis by Berkeley Earth which they describe as a new city-level climate intelligence platform combining our high-resolution observational record with forward-looking warming projections for more than 8,000 locations worldwide...
The last few weeks have revealed that Knysna water security is multifaceted! Obviously it is about having enough rainfall, but another real challenge became visible which is can the town reliably capture, move, store and distribute water during increasingly unstable conditions. Understanding this...
The latest infrastructure updates from Knysna Municipality and the Western Cape Government are important, particularly for the water system. Pump station refurbishments, groundwater rehabilitation, improved transfer infrastructure and efforts to reduce losses through metering should all help the...
The latest updates from the Western Cape Department of Local Government and the Knysna Municipality outlines a series of interventions across the water system: pump station upgrades at Akkerkloof, Charlesford/Eastford, Gouna and Glebe, expansion of groundwater supply, improved internal transfer...
The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) has released its latest weekly dashboard for the Knysna water system, providing a snapshot of consumption, production, and storage levels as of early March. At first glance the situation appears more stable than it did several weeks ago. Akkerkloof Dam...
We have all seen Waterfront Drive look like this during some high tides. These events often happen when the high tide approaches about 2 metres, especially if a small storm surge is present. It’s easy to dismiss them as an inconvenience caused by an unusually high tide. But in reality, these...
The latest water sampling conducted on 19 February 2026 across the Knysna Estuary and several urban culverts provides another snapshot of estuary water quality conditions. As always the samples were analysed by an independent laboratory to measure E. coli, a commonly used indicator of faecal...
The municipality’s recent communication on Non-Revenue Water (NRW) is welcome. NRW is often misunderstood. It includes: Unbilled authorised use (such as firefighting or communal taps) Metering inaccuracies Illegal connections And real physical losses (bursts and leaks) Reducing NRW is essential....
This post will be Knysna specific to illustrate how water stress should be thought about. The town and its surrounds has just experienced its lowest annual rainfall in the 1979–2025 record. That is a serious data point. But a single record low year does not automatically mean that rainfall is...
The municipality has outlined several water augmentation interventions at different stages of implementation in a Feb 20 press release. To better understand their impact on the Knysna system specifically, the table below separates confirmed measured supply from operational but unquantified...