Cape Town, a city of four million people stuck in its third year of a historic drought, faces exceptional water scarcity.
And we are seeing the signs of climate change beginning to drive what little rainfall remains to unexpectedly low levels.
There’s a large reaction, which is panic and anxiety about what the next months might hold, and for good reason.
Sometimes panic has a reaction that causes people to wake up and do things, but also it induces people to invest in things that maybe are not that necessary.
There is a lot going on that is helping to manage the water that we’ve got and to bring new schemes that are augmenting our water.
Although the focus is on Cape Town, there are others, like São Paulo, which from 2012 to 2016 went through a very similar drought.
Those five things are really important legacies to be addressed from the apartheid system.
The lesson is [to learn] how to manage our water differently by closing the loop of the water cycle that is running through the city.
To put it into perspective, almost two, sometimes three times as much water as we actually need falls on Cape Town over its catchment—not where the dams are but over the city itself.
So how do we begin to manage that water that falls on the city much more efficiently and treat the city itself as a catchment?

Reviews position of water availability in Pampore Constituency after drought like situation arises due to prolonged dry spell Jammu, February 22, (Scoop News)- Minister of State for PHE, Irrigation & Flood Control, Forest, Animal, Sheep Husbandry, Cooperative and Fisheries, Mir Zahoor Ahmad today called for taping of ground water at a large scale to overcome acute shortage of drinking water, mostly in rural Kashmir.
Chairing a meeting with the officers of PHE Department, convened to discuss and review the drought like situation due to prolonged dry spell in the State besides water scarcity in Pampore Constituency, Mir Zahoor stressed upon the concerned to work with utmost dedication and asked them to prepare a drought action plan to tackle the growing water crisis.
Taking stock of position of water availability in Pampore Constituency, the Minister asked the PHE authorities to speed up the pace of work on all ongoing water supply schemes including Kandizal.
He also asked them to prepare Detailed Project Report (DPR) for setting up of Over Head Tank (OHT) for Dasso village and submit the same to the concerned quarter for arrangement of funds.
It was informed in the meeting that the construction work on WSS KarnabalAlochbagh, Sathpukhren, Dasso and AIIMS Awantipora sanctioned under NABARD with an estimated cost of Rs 16.93 crore are in full swing.
It was also apprised that an amount of Rs 76 lakh is to be required for land compensation for these schemes excluding WSS Sathpukhren.
Chief Engineer, PHE Kashmir Abdul Waheed assured the meeting that the decisions taken with regard to improvement and up-gradation of PHE schemes in Pampore Constituency to be addressed on priority.
He also informed that due to the deficient rainfall during 2017-18, especially since September 2017 onwards, most of the surface water sources have dried up or depleted.
He said that water table in some areas has also gone down resulting in less discharge of ground water.
Among others, Chief Engineer PHE Jammu A K Gandotra, Senior Officers of PHE Department were present in the meeting.

PULWAMA: The residents of Koil village in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Wednesday protested against water scarcity in the village from last two months.
The residents blocked the Awantipora-Pulwama road for some time causing inconvenience to the commuters.
The residents accused the authorities of not taking any initiative to mitigate the problems of the villagers and said that the acute water scarcity was inflicting sufferings on the residents.
“Since December the taps in the village have been dry and the approach of the authorities has added to the vows of the people here,” said Fayaz Ahmad, a protestor.
The protestors said that the woman folk in the village have been fetching water from nearby streams which can take toll on the health of people.
Another resident Naseer Ahmad told Kashmir Reader that village was getting water from local water supply scheme but from two months the scheme is not functioning well.
The authorities have been informed regarding the non-functioning of said water supply scheme but till date nothing had been done, he said.
The residents said that if authorities fail to provide water they would be forced to protest that can even cause greater inconvenience to people.
Executive Engineer PHE Pulwama/Shopian Nisar Ahmad told Kashmir Reader that the spring source has depleted and the issue would be resolved in a week.
He added that the villagers would be supplied water by tankers till the issue is resolved.

by Farzana Nisar Srinagar The residents of Sirnoo village in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district are without water supply since five months and in the bone-chilling winter amid snowfall, the local womenfolk have to fetch water from wells.
Accusing the authorities for ignoring their plights, the residents said that acute water scarcity has hit their village from the past six months while the officials are paying no heed over their sufferings.
“We have been deprived of drinking water since September, the taps are dry and authorities do not bother to restore water supply,” said Mohammad Ramzan, a resident.
“Some of the households have hand pumps while others have to fetch water after crossing a long distance.
Our women have to walk in this harsh winter to fetch water from wells and streams,” he added.
Another resident Mohammad Ashraf, said that a water supply scheme has been sanctioned to the village but it may take years to get functional.
“The infrastructure of the scheme is still under construction and until it gets completed, authorities should find ways to end this scarcity of water,” he added.
“PHE tankers come to our village once in a week and supply water but we urge the PHE officials to take some immediate steps in solving the problem permanently”, said Abdul Ahad, another resident.
When contacted Executive Engineer PHE Pulwama, Nisar Ahmad Shah, he said “The main source of water for the village is springs and they have dried and depleted.
Hopefully, it will get completed by next year,” he assured.

United Nations, Feb 21 (PTI) Citing a project in India where farmers are using solar-powered pumps to access groundwater for irrigation, UN General Assembly president Miroslav Lajcak has said that the world needs science for tackling global water scarcity.
Noting that the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development calls for making sure that there is water and sanitation for all, Lajcak yesterday said water is critical for achieving all Sustainable Development Goals but world leaders are not doing enough.
Science now helps us to calculate how population growth and climate change will affect the availability of water; It helps us track the shifting of rivers in order to help predict floods; In India there is a project where farmers use solar-powered pumps to access groundwater for crop irrigation,�??
from Cape Town to Flint, Michigan."
Noting that 2030 Agenda calls for making sure that there is water and sanitation for all, he said water is critical for achieving all Sustainable Development Goals.
"Yet we are not doing enough, collectively, to achieve SDG 6 on water,�??
Four out of 10 people worldwide are affected by water scarcity.
"And focusing on people means understanding their plight.
We have to bridge the gap between science and policy �??
and the gap between policy and people.

According to UNICEF, there are 2.1 billion people in the world that do not have access to safe drinking water.
It is amazing to think that in the near future, there is a possibility that many people will die from a lack of drinking water.
One has to examine what happened to Cape Town to understand what could possibly happen here.
A concerned population rises, a major drought hits, and the elements are in place for a real life disaster movie.
Nature Conservancy did a global survey of water supplies for cities.
In fact, Mexico City has 21 million people living there, and they only have access to running water for just part of the day.
Ways to Conserve Water There are steps we can all take to make sure that our ancestors will have enough clean water to live off of as well and ensure that this planet can keep on supporting life.
Waiakea Water has been growing year by year ever since.
Waiakea Water was originally created to make positive changes throughout the world.
With the lack of clean water available to many regions of the world, this is where Waiakea definitely steps up to the plate.

The situation in Cape Town is particularly harsh.
But South Africa Tourism says the government has taken steps to mitigate the impact on residents and tourists alike.
Faced with a severe drought, that has been classified as one in 1,000-year occurrence, tourism related establishments across South Africa and notably Cape Town, in collaboration with the authorities, have put in place a number of preventive initiatives to ensure adequate water supply for residents as well as tourists’ essential daily needs.
“The tourism sector supports approximately 300 000 jobs across the Western Cape and it is vital to preserve these jobs.
During peak season (November – January), international tourists only add 1% to the population of the Western Cape.
The drought has been due to insufficient rainfall which led to a severe drop in the water stored in the dams.
And even if it rains buckets, we are still going to tell people to be more responsible when it comes to usage of water !’’ she added.
“The need of the moment” In the past few years, South Africa has emerged as the preferred destination for Indian tourists in Africa.
Since water scarcity is a global issue the situation in Cape Town brings it to the forefront and hopefully, encourages people to be more aware and governments to be proactive in taking corrective measures,’’ added Smita Srivastava, Director of Chalo South Africa, a TO based in Delhi, adding that the drought has had practically no impact on the tourism traffic from India to South Africa.
California, Australia and Sao Paulo have faced similar issues.

Baringo women and children have been forced to spend the night outside their homes in search of water.
The women have to scoop sand at the county’s riverbeds after the springs dried following a prolonged dry spell in the region.
More than 10,000 children from Baringo North, Tiaty, and Baringo South are on the verge of dropping out of school due to water scarcity and hunger.
"I have been here the whole night only to fetch two 20litres jerry cans," Gladys Jebet told The Star at Cheptoriot River in Kerio Valley on Sunday.
"Where are our leaders to help us in this situation?"
she asked.
"I also have to leave my 4-year-old child under the care of his father in the night to beat the long queues at the dry rivers," she said.
Those with livestock are forced to travel for kilometres to water their animals at Kerio River, which is at the Baringo and Elkeyo Marakwet border.
The residents appealed to the government through the area MPs William Cheptumo, William Kamket, and Grace Kipchoim to deploy water bowsers to the area.
Last Wednesday, Water PS Fred Segor deployed six water bowsers to serve residents of Tiaty, a move that locals in Baringo North and Baringo South.

TEHRAN, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) — The Iranian government intends to restrict rice planting in areas where underground water is at alarming levels, Financial Tribune daily reported Saturday.
Water shortage will negatively impact the spring cultivation of agricultural products, the daily cited Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian as saying.
Farmers in some of the northern cities are advised to opt for the cultivation of oilseeds or fodder instead of rice, said Delavar Heydarpour, the head of Jihad Organization Mazandaran Agricultural.
Water reserves behind northern Mazandaran Province’s dams have decreased by an average of 40 percent year-on-year since March 21, the beginning of the current Iranian year, he added.
About 92 percent of Iran’s water resources are used up by unsustainable and wasteful farming practices, the daily reported.
Located in one of the world’s most water-stressed regions, Iran’s average precipitation rate has been lower than the global average for at least 10 years.
Some 37 million Iranians are said to be living in water-stressed areas.

Report Ad Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Iraq has urged neighboring countries to release its share of water from Euphrates and Tigris rivers, warning that it may be facing a “water scarcity” crisis.
Government-owned Al-Sabaah quoted Hamid al-Nayef, spokesperson of the agriculture ministry, saying that “Iraq has made official requests to Turkey and Syria to release its share of Euphrates and Tigris rivers, which had witnessed a great decline,” he added that the requests were made after “those countries failed to commit to agreements and mechanisms determining each country’s share for many reasons, including the construction of dams”.
According to Nayef, the drop in rainfall rates contributed to the decline of water levels at the rivers.
He said the government has only managed to provide water to 75 percent of lands allocated for cultivation.
“All regions of Iraq face the danger of water scarcity,” water resources minister, Hassan al-Janabi, told al-Sabaah.
The minister said a visit by the Iraqi side is planned to Turkey soon to discuss Iraq’s water share in light of Turkey’s Ilisu Dam, one of the biggest dams on Tigris River southeast of Turkey and near the borders with Iraq.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi had directed for combating violations of water resources at southern provinces.
Meanwhile, Hilal al-Sahlani, a member of the Iraqi parliament’s foreign relations committee, warned that the water scarcity danger might cause to remove southern Iraq’s Ahwar marshes from the UNESCO world heritage list.
“As the water crisis exacerbates, Iraq will sooner or later lose Ahwar from the world heritage list,” Sahlani said.