Cape Town Water Crisis (2016–)

Date: 2016–

Place: Cape Town, South Africa

Summary

The Cape Town water crisis is a political and environmental controversy involving a sustained drought that began in 2016 and the struggle to implement water-saving measures in the South African city of Cape Town. In 2017, it was announced that the city’s reservoirs would soon reach critical levels, known as “Day Zero,” at which point the city would need to shut off water supply to most of the city’s residents, requiring them to get limited water from municipal collection areas. Because it was predicted that the water would run out in early 2018, Day Zero was set initially for several days in April that year before being moved to May and then ultimately delayed to 2019. Though the crisis had finally led to a sufficient reduction in water use, officials emphasized that water conservation practices must continue and methods for increasing the water supply must be explored.

Key Events

• January 1, 2016—Cape Town government begins implementing more serious water restrictions, putting level 2 in place for the first time since 2005.
• September 2017—Cape Town government imposes level 4b water restrictions, limiting all residents to 87 liters (approximately 30 gallons) of water per day.
• February 1, 2018—Cape Town reduces daily water use to 50 liters (about 13 gallons) per day or less.
• February 13, 2018—South African government declares the Cape Town drought a “national disaster.”
• March 2018—Cape Town government postpones Day Zero to 2019.

Status

As Cape Town residents began following water restriction measures more aggressively, the city postponed the date of Day Zero on several occasions and, in March 2018, announced that the date had been moved to an undetermined point in 2019. Water use had declined significantly, reaching the closest amounts ever achieved to the goal of 450 million liters per day for the city as a whole. Citizens were finding ways to recycle water for bathing and laundry while many in the agriculture business adjusted to using less water for crops and irrigation. At the same time, restrictions remained in place, particularly as officials were unsure as to how much rain the city would get in the coming winter, and efforts were being made to secure more water, including desalination facilities.

Commentators speculated that a combination of factors, including unchecked population growth, climate change, and poor water management likely contributed to the water shortage and approach of Day Zero. Others expressed concern that similar droughts occurring in places such as South America, combined with such population issues, could lead to water crises in other parts of the world as well. Additionally, the Cape Town and South African governments were criticized for failing to heed warnings, prioritize, and respond to the situation with the appropriate mindset based on the changing climate, both in the current crisis and in the past.

In-Depth Overview

Cape Town is the second-largest city in South Africa after Johannesburg, with a population of over four million in 2018, and serves as the nation’s legislative capital. The climate of the Western Cape region of South Africa, in which the city is located, is marked by dry summers followed by rainy winters. Water from the annual rains is collected in six dams that make up the Western Cape Water Supply System. Cape Town has experienced numerous drought years wherein residents have been asked to participate in water conservation efforts, but compliance has been inconsistent and many citizens have ignored warnings about potential water shortages.

Climate scientists and hydrologists began warning of a potential catastrophic water shortage in the 1990s, though no significant measures were taken to address the situation until the 2000s. The city experienced a major drought in 2003 and 2004 that led to governmental action in the form of a major upgrade of the water pipe network, which reduced water loss and resulted in complacency on the part of the government with regard to determining and implementing alternative methods to address future water shortages. Despite water restrictions in place since the 2004 drought, water use did not decrease significantly, and political delays meant that the Berg River dam, the sixth in the system, was not completed until 2009 even though its construction had originally been approved in the 1990s. In 2015, an El Niño year, the city was hit with drought again, which was exacerbated by an already diminished water supply, and scientists warned that the combination of El Niño weather patterns and climate change could intensify the drought.

The Western Cape government petitioned the national government for emergency aid in 2015 and again in 2016 to fund alternative water sources, but the national government reportedly at first refused on the basis that the dams still had high capacity and subsequently only agreed to provide funds for select municipalities in the region, which allegedly were not received. During earlier droughts, Cape Town had adopted a water restriction system. Levels 1 (implemented in 2005) and 2 (put into effect in January 2016) place limits on the nonessential use of water and encourage water-saving methods and technologies while increasing the price of water consumption. Level 3 also bans the use of hosepipes and sprinklers. By the end of 2016, level 3 water restrictions were in place, though few citizens complied.

During the third year of the draught, in early 2017, Cape Town’s water supplies fell to 21.2 percent. The city put level 4 water restrictions into place, limiting citizens to 100 liters (around 26 gallons) of water per day, and, by July, the government was forced to increase water restrictions again, to the level 4b limit of 87 liters (approximately 30 gallons). At the same time, the city began promoting the idea of “Day Zero,” which was the point at which the dams would reach such a critically low level that water taps would have to be shut off for residents, who would then need to collect water from one of two hundred water stations located around the city.

On January 1, 2018, after having put level 5 in place the previous September, Cape Town imposed level 6 water restrictions. Only weeks later, the city’s executive mayor, Patricia de Lille, issued a statement expressing disappointment at the 60 percent of residents who had not changed their behavior in response to the announcement of the crisis. Media analysts had predicted that the city could suffer from a major humanitarian crisis if it reached Day Zero as each of its water stations would need to serve thousands of residents each day. If Day Zero were to arrive, citizens would be limited to 25 liters (6.6 gallons) per day. In February, residents were required to cut water use to a mere 50 liters (about 13 gallons) per day, and the national government ultimately declared the city’s drought a national disaster.

Key Figures

Patricia de Lille—Executive mayor of Cape Town.

Bibliography

Day Zero now likely to happen—New emergency measures. (2018, January 17). City of Cape Town. Retrieved from http://www.capetown.gov.za/Media-and-news/Day%20Zero%20now%20likely%20to%20happen%20%E2%80%93%20new%20emergency%20measures

Ma, A. (2018, March 7). People in Cape Town have massively delayed the day they run out of water by using dirty shower water to flush their toilets. Business Insider. Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/cape-town-postpones-day-zero-when-it-runs-out-of-water-to-2019-2018-3

Mahr, K. (2018, May 4). How Cape Town was saved from running out of water. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/04/back-from-the-brink-how-cape-town-cracked-its-water-crisis

Olivier, D. W. (2017, December 12). Cape Town’s water crisis: Driven by politics more than drought. The Conversation. Retrieved from https://theconversation.com/cape-towns-water-crisis-driven-by-politics-more-than-drought-88191

Poplak, R. (2018, February 15). What’s actually behind Cape Town’s water crisis. The Atlantic. Retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/02/cape-town-water-crisis/553076/

Welch, C. (2018, March 5). Why Cape Town is running out of water, and who’s next. National Geographic. Retrieved from https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/02/cape-town-running-out-of-water-drought-taps-shutoff-other-cities/