The Cape Town Water Crisis- A Warning to the World

Stella Liu, Year 12, Keller House

Imagine your city nearly completely ran out of water and the little water that was left went to the most important public facilities and communal taps. You had to line-up for a daily pre-approved 25 litres of water, per person. That was what residents of Cape Town had to endure during their countdown to ‘Day Zero’ in 2018.

‘Day Zero’ means the implementation of Level 7 water restrictions when municipal water supplies would be switched off and residents would have to queue for their daily ration of water. These restrictions made Cape Town the first major city in the world to run out of water. However, the legislative capital of South Africa has always been renowned for its pristine coastline and multi-million dollar beach front properties. So how has water become a scarce resource in a city defined by its waterfront features?

Cape Town's most prominent feature is its Table Mountain which traps the warm onshore wind coming from ocean waters creating rainfall that flows through rivers and fills underground aquifers. It is an oasis surrounded by desert and its comfortable, arid climate. This has attracted many tourists as well as rural to urban migrants in search of a better life, in hopes of finding a job in one of the many resorts or wealthier households. Cape Town’s population increased by 80% from 1995 to 2018, but, like all cities facing rapid urbanization and migration, inequality became prevalent. According to the UN Human Development Index, South Africa has the highest degree of income inequality in the world. Many shantytowns in and around Cape Town are suffering through years of water shortages, unreliable access to clean water, and long communal distribution lines. Meanwhile, the majority of white middle and upper classes, who rarely consider using water sparingly, have been installing private water tanks in their homes.

The government also made a common, yet false, assumption: the future rainfall patterns would resemble the past, or at least not change too quickly. However, due to climate change, Cape Town’s water supplies nearly vanished. Six years ago, the city’s six dams were full, but three years of drought resulted in a rapid deterioration of water security. In 2016, the city saw just under 9 inches of rainfall and in 2017 just 6 inches were recorded. This was in stark contrast to the average of 22.2 inches in the rest of South Africa. NASA data states that the reservoirs currently stand at 26% capacity with the largest reservoir (Theewaterskloof) in the worst shape.

The city was already at risk of drought and the government failed to provide solutions to mitigate future problems leading them to a position beyond return. The government failed to act sooner because, unlike the national government, it is not run by the African National Congress. Instead it is run by the Democratic Alliance. The national government rejected the Western Cape Provincial Government's application to declare the drought a “national disaster” in 2015 -a necessary step in order to get funding for local drought preparation. And even though the national government eventually accepted the disaster application for a few municipalities, their application for a city-wide disaster status in early 2017 was rejected by The National Department of Water Affairs, stating that: “Although the water situation is concerning, it is not yet at crisis level. ” This further slowed the action taken to prevent the growing crisis.

In early 2018, the crisis was in full swing. For months there had been volunteer water restrictions but more than half of residents ignored them. In an effort to rectify this, the city enforced tougher restrictions in January asking residents to consume just 50 liters of water per day. Moreover, the essential Theewaterskloof reservoir was down to 10% of its capacity and the last 9% of the water was unusable because of the high mix of sand. Additionally, the city's mayor, Patricia de Lille, announced that ‘Day Zero’ was projected to take place on 22 April, but later changed this to 12 April. The water usage declined significantly under the new restrictions, both personal usage and agricultural, which allowed the city to move ‘Day Zero’ back even more. On the 28th of June it was postponed indefinitely.

Due to the collective efforts of the residents and the government Cape Town was able to escape the catastrophe that awaited them at the other side of ‘Day Zero’ . The government instructed people to limit their daily water use per person to 50 litres a day which is still reinforced with signs all around town

reminding people to conserve water. Along with that, the city also prepped 200 emergency water stations outside groceries and other gathering spots, each having to serve almost 20,000 residents. An addition to new desalination plants, new water wells and a plant that would reuse dirty water was built. Many middle class residents have learnt to conserve rainwater and remove their carefully curated lawns and gardens. Residents would often say “if it's yellow, let it mellow” as a motto for water conservation in homes where they would also use grey water to flush toilets (these practises have been the norm in nearby shantytowns). Some speedy Capetonians turned the crisis into businesses with online offers to “deliver” water whilst others began selling and installing rainwater collection systems. Nevertheless, some measures that were set out have proven to be controversial. In townships, authorities have cracked down on informal car washes, handing out fines that reach as much as £300 (equivalent to one month's salary). Though some measures were considered as extreme, all efforts helped make the dawn of “day one” less probable.

Even though Cape Town was able to avoid the invoking of level 7 water rescristions, the possibility of more major cities running out of water is becoming increasingly probable. The UN said that by 2050, 5 billion people could be facing water shortages. Many other major areas including Mexico City, Melbourne, Jakarta and large parts of California are facing similar problems that might lead them to their own “Day Zero” . One might ask, how could these places possibly be facing a water crisis? Aren’t they surrounded by water? Since the earth’s surface is 71% covered by water, we assume that the supply is essentially unlimited. But in fact, only 1% of all the water on earth is drinkable and only 8% of that is used for personal use and the other 92% are used for industry and agriculture. Furthermore, a high percentage of that goes to alfalfa farming which is eaten by cows for consumption. Poor management by governments, geographical ‘bad luck’ and climate change might lead to an essential part of our lives becoming a rare commodity.

Everyday on average, a person uses around 350 litres of water. We open these taps so mindlessly, never wondering where all the water comes from. So next time you turn your tap on, think about what you would do if it ran dry because the arrival of your city’s “Day Zero'' could be sooner than you think...

https://www.circleofblue.org/cape-town/