Shrinking reservoirs in Morocco, India, Iraq and Spain could spark the next “day zero” water crisis, according to the developers of a satellite early warning system for the world’s 500,000 dams.
Drastic conservation measures have forestalled that moment in South Africa, but dozens of other countries face similar risks from rising demand, mismanagement and climate change, say the World Resources Institute (WRI).
The last time the dam was so depleted, grain production fell by half and more than 700,000 people were affected, it said.
Pressure on this water source will grow later this year when a new water transfer project links it to the city of Marrakech.
Water levels are historically low at Al Massira Dam (Morocco) Standfirst … surface area (sq km) 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Guardian graphic In Iraq, the Mosul Dam has seen a more protracted decline but it is also now down 60% from its peak in the 1990s as a result of low rainfall and competing demand from Turkish hydropower projects upstream on the Tigris and Euphrates.
As in Syria and increasingly also Iraq, water stress has added to conflict and been a driver for relocations of people from the countryside.
Water levels at Mosul Dam (Iraq) Standfirst … surface area (sq km) 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 Guardian graphic Tensions have also been apparent in India over the water allocations for two reservoirs connected by the Narmada river.
Water levels at Indira Sagar Dam (India) Standfirst … surface area (sq km) 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 Guardian graphic The social risks are lower in industrialised countries that are less dependent on agriculture and more economically resilient.
Water levels at Buendia Dam (Spain) Standfirst … surface area (sq km) 0 10 20 30 40 2005 2010 2015 Guardian graphic All four dams are in the mid-latitudes, the geographic bands on either side of the tropics where climate change is expected to make droughts more frequent and protracted.
“There are lots of potential Cape Towns in the making.