How other major cities coped with water crisis
Cape Town not alone in the fight to avoid taps running dry
WE ARE not alone. Most cities are located where they are because they had a good water source to start with, but as they grow they need to import drinking water and export waste water.
Although Cape Town with almost 4 million residents has been billed as the first major city in the world to run the risk of its taps running dry, there are many other cities that are water stressed.
We asked colleagues at World Wildlife Fund offices across the world to share insights that might help Cape Town get ahead of the curve. São Paulo, Brazil (21 million*) The largest city in Brazil went through a major water crisis from 2014 to 2016 when about two thirds of the city’s population experienced water shortages. At the end of 2014, the Cantareira reservoir sunk to its lowest levels (dropping below 5%) and the city came to within 20 days of running out of water. Mexico City, Mexico (21 million) Mexico City faces enormous challenges in terms of drinking water supply and the operation of drainage infrastructure that prevents flooding. Currently 18% of residents do not receive water every day and 32% don’t get enough water to cover their basic needs, so they have to buy water at great expense.
Karachi, Pakistan (17 million)
Karachi faces severe water risks with a growing gap between water supply and demand. This is partly because the city’s population growth has always outstripped projections and partly because of a delay in the execution of mega water supply projects. To meet their needs, Karachi households and industries depend on limited water supplies from the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB), as well as groundwater and tankers.
A “tanker mafia”, which gets 25% of its water through the KWSB supply line, much of it illegally, dominates this water supply.
Los Angeles, California, US (12 million)
Since 2011, California has experienced a multi-year drought followed by a record-breaking winter storm season and then its worst fire season ever.
During the height of the drought, LA imported 89% of its water from more than 300km away, a very energy-intensive process. In the midst of water restrictions, some of the lowest levels of water use were just over 132 litres per person per day, still almost triple Cape Town’s 50 litres a day.
Nairobi, Kenya (4 million)
Kenya’s capital faces a water deficit of 200 million litres of water a day with some saying that demand for water now surpasses supply by 600%. Due to a prolonged drought since 2014 and the degradation of critical catchment areas, most of the dams that supply water to the city are well below capacity.
Brisbane, Australia (2.2 million)
Australia’s “Millennium Drought” hit rural and urban water supplies extremely hard. Most major cities were affected, including Brisbane, by low rainfall between 1997 and 2009. With dam levels dropping below 20%, stringent measures were taken to avoid water running out.
Seville, Spain (1 million)
During the drought of 1992 to 1995, reservoirs in the Guadalquivir river basin, which supplies the city of Seville, dropped to 9.5%. The consequence was severe water restrictions, including cutting the water supply to just 10 hours a day, reducing water pressure and a ban on watering gardens. The objective was to reach water savings of around 30%.
WWF South Africa compiled this Water File in collaboration with WWF offices in Mexico, Spain, Kenya, Pakistan, Brazil, the US and Australia. All population figures, barring Seville, are from “The World Cities in 2016” published by the United Nations’ Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Figures have been rounded up.