Cape Town’s ominous day zero has been moved back from April 16 to May 11, thanks to a generous donation from farmers in the Western Cape province.
On Feb. 6, farmers north of the city opened their dams to allow about 10 million liters of water to flow down to the drought-stricken city.
The city has struggled to manage meager water sources and as of Feb. 1, water usage was forcibly reduced to 50 liters per person per day.
Learn More The province’s farmers, though, have lived with the effects of climate change for several years now as annual rainfall has steadily decreased and have changed their relationship with what is now a precious resource, saving water even during wetter years.
The water will flow from private dams on farms to the municipal Steenbras dam, one of the dams which supplies Cape Town’s residents.
Agricultural water in the region is managed by water users associations, which each farmer must belong to.
Average weekly water usage of dams in the Western Cape City of Cape TownAgricultureOther Urban Usage62%317City of Cape TownAgricultureOther Urban Usage62%317 Data: City of Cape Town Still, agricultural water users understand that their relative abundance of water is because they do not have the burden of supplying water to as populated an area as Cape Town.
The water associations offer a lesson in planning to the city of Cape Town.
Farmers throughout the province have already reduced their water usage by as much as 80%.
“A lot of our areas—for two or three weeks—are already in day zero,” Opperman told Quartz.