Cape Town: A City left in Tumultuous Waters (or a lack of them) from Water Crisis
Cape Town, with a population of 3,776,000 people, is quickly running out of water. A Day Zero, when water reserves reach a 13.5% capacity, with exceptions to schools and hospitals, water supply to the 154.5 mi2 city will be cut off, has been set for July 15th. Currently, Cape Town citizens are having to reduce their water usage, living off 13.2 gallons per person per day. Residents in Cape Town have become increasingly stingy with their water use by wearing clothes as much as possible in order to cut down on the wash, taking one-minute showers, by using disposable dishes that don’t need to be washed (Elbaum).
But how did the water crisis get this bad? In 2015, a drought like no other hit Cape Town like a monster truck over a mini-cooper. Cape Town had some drought protective measures in place, but they weren’t prepared for the mega monster that they were dealing with. The water reservoirs that were at 100% a couple years ago are now at less than a quarter full (Brueck). Furthering the crisis are the political problems between South Africa and Cape Town. The entirety of South Africa, excluding Cape Town, is governed by the African National Congress, while Cape Town is under a party called the Democratic Alliance. The differences in these two political parties and their division has slowed the progress made to instill new water supplies and water protective measures in Cape Town. Additionally, there has been some speculation that the African National Congress is deliberately allowing the Democratic Alliance to take a massive hit from the water crisis in order to gain an advantage in the next election (Aleem). These two factors have led to a slow response from the government of Cape Town, and have allowed the crisis to get to a critical point.
The Democratic Alliance, however, has instituted some measures to decrease water consumption. Heavy fines were put into place in February, punishing anyone who exceeds the 50-liter limit. These measures were initially ineffective, but urban water usage has dramatically decreased from its past levels (Onishi and Sengupta). Cape Town citizens have come together by creating posters encouraging water conservation, and many businesses are now putting non-water based hand sanitizer in their bathrooms for customers and patrons. Some residents have been extremely dedicated; standing in buckets during brief showers to catch the water they are using and reusing it for basic household needs. Although the water saving measures were initially “fine in the beginning, but month after month the novelty of saving water has worn off and it’s become revolting,” says Michelle Koton, “It’s starting to feel unhygienic. When you go to the toilet, sometimes you want to wash with soap and water and not hand sanitizer" (Elbaum). The water shortage in Cape Town has had a major toll on everything there, from the average citizen to the massive corporation, and the full scope of its consequences is yet to be seen.
Cape Town will live to see rainfall again, but its crisis won’t be so quickly forgotten. New measures that have begun to be acted upon will finish their construction, and citizens there will continue their water saving ways. The most important lesson from the water shortage will be that one source of water shouldn’t be so heavily relied on, and as climate change continues across the globe, new ways of finding water and pushing past “peak water limits” will have to be found and put to use. As more and more regions face drought and water issues, water renewal and purification systems will need to be built, citizens will have to become more conscious of their water footprint, and water reservoirs will need to be expanded.
But how did the water crisis get this bad? In 2015, a drought like no other hit Cape Town like a monster truck over a mini-cooper. Cape Town had some drought protective measures in place, but they weren’t prepared for the mega monster that they were dealing with. The water reservoirs that were at 100% a couple years ago are now at less than a quarter full (Brueck). Furthering the crisis are the political problems between South Africa and Cape Town. The entirety of South Africa, excluding Cape Town, is governed by the African National Congress, while Cape Town is under a party called the Democratic Alliance. The differences in these two political parties and their division has slowed the progress made to instill new water supplies and water protective measures in Cape Town. Additionally, there has been some speculation that the African National Congress is deliberately allowing the Democratic Alliance to take a massive hit from the water crisis in order to gain an advantage in the next election (Aleem). These two factors have led to a slow response from the government of Cape Town, and have allowed the crisis to get to a critical point.
The Democratic Alliance, however, has instituted some measures to decrease water consumption. Heavy fines were put into place in February, punishing anyone who exceeds the 50-liter limit. These measures were initially ineffective, but urban water usage has dramatically decreased from its past levels (Onishi and Sengupta). Cape Town citizens have come together by creating posters encouraging water conservation, and many businesses are now putting non-water based hand sanitizer in their bathrooms for customers and patrons. Some residents have been extremely dedicated; standing in buckets during brief showers to catch the water they are using and reusing it for basic household needs. Although the water saving measures were initially “fine in the beginning, but month after month the novelty of saving water has worn off and it’s become revolting,” says Michelle Koton, “It’s starting to feel unhygienic. When you go to the toilet, sometimes you want to wash with soap and water and not hand sanitizer" (Elbaum). The water shortage in Cape Town has had a major toll on everything there, from the average citizen to the massive corporation, and the full scope of its consequences is yet to be seen.
Cape Town will live to see rainfall again, but its crisis won’t be so quickly forgotten. New measures that have begun to be acted upon will finish their construction, and citizens there will continue their water saving ways. The most important lesson from the water shortage will be that one source of water shouldn’t be so heavily relied on, and as climate change continues across the globe, new ways of finding water and pushing past “peak water limits” will have to be found and put to use. As more and more regions face drought and water issues, water renewal and purification systems will need to be built, citizens will have to become more conscious of their water footprint, and water reservoirs will need to be expanded.
Works Cited:
Aleem, Zeeshan. “Cape Town Is Bracing for ‘Day Zero’ — the Day It Cuts off Running Water for 4 Million People.” Vox, 21 Feb. 2018, 12:24 EST, www.vox.com/world/2018/2/9/16964416/cape-town-water-crisis-day-zero-south-africa.
Brueck, Hilary. “A Major South African City Is about to Run out of Water, and Officials Say It Will Be the Worst Disaster since 9/11.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 12 Feb. 2018, www.businessinsider.com/officials-in-cape-town-warn-day-zero-will-be-worst-disaster-since-sept-11-water-shortage-2018-1#meanwhile-business-has-been-nice-for-borehole-companies-as-those-who-can-afford-to-build-private-water-storage-wells-opt-to-do-that-16
Lutz, Ashley, and Emily Cohn. “We Went to the Major South African City That's Approaching 'Day Zero' of an Unprecedented Water Crisis — Here's What It's like to Be a Tourist There.” Business Insider, 27 Feb. 2018, www.businessinsider.com/cape-town-drought-approaching-day-zero-2018-2. Accessed 6 Mar. 2018.
Crabtree, Justina. “Cape Town Is Running out of Water, and No One Knows What Economic Impact That Will Have.” CNBC, 6 Mar. 2018, 5:28 AM EST, www.cnbc.com/2018/03/06/south-Africa-cape-town-drought-economic-impact.html
Elbaum, Rachael. “Cape Town’s Day Zero Pushed Back, but Water Crisis Takes a Toll.” NBC News, 7 Mar. 2018, 5:22 AM EST, www.nbcnews.com/news/world/cape-town-s-day-zero-pushed-back-water-crisis-takes-n853616.
Glieck, Peter. “Commentary: Cape Town Is Running out of Water. Could More Cities Be Next?” Fortune, 7 Feb. 2018, fortune.com/2018/02/07/water-shortage-cape-town-south-africa/
I loved the analogies you made to make the article more interesting, like "monster truck over a mini-cooper". My main takeaway is that the people in Cape Town have relied too much on one water source, and now a drought has led to severe lack of water. Who do you think needs to step up and build these purification systems and other utilities to help Cape Town?
ReplyDeleteI found it really interesting how dire the situation was in Cape Town. What do you think needs to be done to solve such a huge problem?
ReplyDelete