Cape Town implements severe water restrictions
The South African tourist destination is close to running dry, officials say.
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — “Day Zero” in Cape Town — the day that the water taps slow to a muddy dribble, then a drip and run dry — is around three months away.
The city, one of South Africa’s top tourist destinations, nestled on the country’s southern coast beneath Table Mountain, faces a severe water crisis as reservoirs sank to an effective 10.5% of their capacity after five years of drought.
The actual level of Cape Town’s dams averaged around 20%, but the last 10% of the dams is not usable because of poor quality or because the water can’t be accessed, according to city authorities. The level in the biggest reservoir, which pro- vides half the city’s water, reached 14.5%, or an effective 4.5%.
Last week, the city authorities demanded that water consumption be immediately cut by 26 million gallons a day. Officials spelled out plans for its toughest water restrictions yet, including bans on all external use of water for washing cars, watering lawns and filling swimming pools and severe restrictions of less than 26 gallons per person a day for essential washing, drinking and cooking only.
The city was declared a disaster area in March as it confronted its worst drought in more than 100 years. The premier of the Western Cape province, Helen Zille, declared the entire province a disaster zone.
Cape Town’s drought is very inconvenient but elsewhere in Africa, notably Somalia, prolonged drought is displacing families and killing children, with famine threatening in several African countries, particularly those hit by conflict.
The crisis mirrors a countrywide crisis last year when townships ran dry and residents of major cities staged collections of bottled water, which was donated and trucked across South Africa.
The government has announced plans to drill for water at hospitals and schools and to try to tap into groundwater under Table Mountain.
In Cape Town, the crisis is partly caused by climate change, but the city’s rapid population growth to nearly 4 million people has contributed to the stress on the water system.
Mounting warnings in recent months have failed to curb water use. The city released a list of shame recently, outing the top 100 water users, most of them concentrated in affluent areas. They also sent out teams to plug water leaks. The worse offender used 33 times more than the average household.