United States

New York, NY

44°F
My Recent Locations
Allergies: Low

Personalized Forecasts

Let AccuWeather help you personalize your day-to-day forecasts, to help you better know how to plan your day, and your outdoor activities.

FEATURED FORECAST
MY FAVORITE FORECASTS
    A.M. PLANNER
    HOME & GARDEN
    SPORTS & RECREATION
    HEALTH
    MISCELLANEOUS

    ‘We have reached a point of no return’: Cape Town set to run out of water despite contingency plans

    By Jillian MacMath, AccuWeather staff writer
    January 24, 2018, 9:16:53 AM EST

    Share this article:


    As drought continues and water levels plummet in Cape Town’s dams, residents are facing a slew of new emergency measures.

    Messages of conservation have fallen on deaf ears, the city said, necessitating a crackdown on usage.

    “We have reached a point of no return. Despite our urging for months, 60 percent of Capetonians are callously using more than 87 litres per day,” Mayor Patricia de Lille said.

    This week, the government is set to vote on the introduction of a punitive tariff, which will charge residents using above 6,000 liters per month exponentially higher rates for their water.

    south africa cape town dam

    Water continues to recede at South Africa's Theewaterskloof dam. (Instagram photo/Zan3_pharmer)


    As of Feb. 1, usage will be restricted to 50 liters per person per day to make up for months of overuse.

    Though desalination plants are set to go online in February and drilling into the aquifer will also take place, officials say the additional resources are too little too late.

    “The people who are still wasting water seem to believe that Day Zero just can't happen or that the city’s seven augmentation projects - set to produce around 200 million litres per day – will be enough to save us,” de Lille said.

    “This is not the case and, while our water augmentation programme will make Cape Town more water resilient in the future, it was never going to be enough to stop Day Zero,” she said.

    The city has announced water collection points, which will become the only way to obtain water for personal use if dam levels continue to drop.

    Taps will be shut off and residents will be able to retrieve 25 liters per person each day from one of 200 collection points across the city.

    RELATED:
    'We’re deep, deep, deep in crisis': Cape Town may become 1st major city in world to run out of water
    2017 marks Earth's hottest year on record without El Niño, NASA reports
    Thousands evacuated as ash cloud from Mayon Volcano threatens imminent eruption

    With Cape Town boasting a population of 4 million, many residents say it’s not a practical solution.

    Residents have accused the government of insufficient planning and water mismanagement among other things, but experts say this situation was largely unpredictable and not one officials at a city level would typically plan for.

    “Whilst the city may have been a bit slow to enforce stronger restrictions once the severity of the drought became obvious, I don’t think they had any way of predicting just how bad it was,” Kristy Carden, researcher for the University of Cape Town’s Urban Water Management Research Unit, told AccuWeather.

    “Climate scientists have suggested that the cumulative effect of the three below-average rainfall years equates to something approaching a once-in-1,000-years drought occurrence, not something that would be planned for at city level,” Carden said.

    With the rainy season still months away, it’s likely the situation will worsen before it gets better.

    "The dry season typically continues into early April, so the likelihood for significant rainfall the next two months is low," AccuWeather Meteorologist Eric Leister said.

    Report a Typo

    Weather News
    >

    Comments

    Comments that don't add to the conversation may be automatically or manually removed by Facebook or AccuWeather. Profanity, personal attacks, and spam will not be tolerated.

    More Weather News

    More Weather News

    TRENDING NOW

    cars in snow 11718

    Expert explains whether you should opt for all-season or winter tires

    Choosing the correct tires in general is important, but deciding whether or not to have winter tires can be a tough decision.

    Read Story
    Red, irritated eye - Getty Images

    How wildfire smoke can irritate your eyes, what you can do to protect them

    Wildfire smoke is known for its potential to wreak havoc on a person’s health, but the threats aren’t limited to the lungs.

    Read Story
    More Trending Now
    >