This dissertation is dedicated to the loving memory of my late father mr. This country has been stricken by affects from the long standing apartheid to the devastation that diseases such as hivaids and tb have caused. South africa is the 30th driest country in the world. As more and more people migrate into cities from rural villages the pressure for the city to meet the water demands is ever increasing.
Since 2015, the rainfall has been abnormally low5,17. According to a report released by the department of water and sanitation last week, south africas dams saw an improvement by a fraction of a percent 0. A map of the major dams that supply water to cape town. A fter three years of unprecedented drought, the south african city of cape town has less than 90 days worth of water in its reservoirs, putting it on track to be the first major city in the world. South africas water crisis spreads from cape town reuters. The year 2016 was the hottest year on record since measurements began, following 2015. There is also uneven distribution of rainfall across south africa. But there are also other reasons brought up in the public discourse, particularly on social media, such as population and water demand growth, unreported agricultural use, invasive species sucking out water in catchments, poor planning and mismanagement of water supply system, and lack of foresight in. Locational map of southern african showing annual rainfall distribution. Thankfully, in 2018 the region had a relatively bountiful rainy season, and the city was able to escape its day zero plans for turning off the citys water supply. The most immediately apparent impact of water scarcity in africa is on the continents health. Southern africa faces acute water scarcity challenges due. Pdf on dec 10, 2016, l rodina and others published.
Illustrating the extent and severity of the 201516 drought reliefweb. Global risk report 2015, the risk of a water crisis was ranked as. Water crisis grips cape town, south africa, after drought. Water scarcity is the lack of sufficient available water resources to meet the demands of water usage within a region. Western cape province in south africa is going through a severe drought, affecting in particular the highly populated urban area of cape town and its water supply. The cape town water crisis in south africa was a period of severe water shortage in the western cape region, most notably affecting the city of cape town. Cape town, south africa, will likely run out of water by.
Water crisis how resilient is your organisation in the face of. But its just one of many cities around the world facing a future with too little water. Signs of this impending crisis are already there for all of us to see. Whats actually behind cape towns water crisis the atlantic. Nov 03, 2016 south africa is a country located at the southern tip of africa. Africa international decade for action water for life. The south african government instead decided to allocate roughly 40 percent of the western capes water supply to agriculture as late as 2015, exceeding the previous capped volume of 173. She was on the forbes 2015 30under30 in energy list and was even awarded the u. Mikhael subotzky and johnny miller for time what its like to live through cape town. About twothirds of the worlds population faces water scarcity for at least one month during the year.
Cape town, south africa experienced an especially severe drought in 20172018 after several years of. South africa water shortage, cape town drought water. The current drought is the effect of a sustained belowaverage monthly rainfall series since 2015, which intensified in the last wet season april to september 2017. Thus south africa is classified as a waterstressed country. C ape town will not run out of water this year or next, the south african tourist board has said the popular holiday destination came within weeks of day zero. In the world economic forums global risk report 2015, the risk of a water crisis was ranked as the top risk in. Meeting the mdg drinking water and sanitation target. South africas water resources have always been very limited, and with increased population, the demand for water has also increased.
While dam water levels had been declining since 2015, the cape town water. Pwc refers to pricewaterhousecoopers in south africa, which is a member firm of pricewaterhousecoopers international. Global water shortage risk is worse than scientists thought. South africas water crisis is bigger than the cape. This puts a lot of strain on south africas water supplies because 65% of the country gets less than 500mm of annual rainfall. Not only is south africa plagued by severe drought conditions, but it also has. What the drought did was highlight existing vulnerabilities in south africas water system, and properly frame the magnitude of the challenge of ensuring water security for the country. Scenarios for the future of water in south africa 2017 page 7 south africa is approaching physical water scarcity by 2025, and its socioeconomic development has been directly hampered by the recent drought. Water security in south africa development bank of. This is part two of a groundup special series on cape towns water crisis. Even then, just less than 1% of the freshwater is easily accessible in lakes and rivers. The drought has taken its toll on the agriculture sector, widening the trade deficit due to losses in maize exports.
Free state farmers have been severely affected by what. Below you will find some tips on how you can save water during your stay in south africa, so you help the local community and their future water supply. May 04, 2018 reusing shower water, limiting toilet flushing and nighttime irrigation were among measures that saved south africas second city from running dry. Agriculture accounts for of all water withdrawals globally and for over in the. Though nearly 70% of the world is covered by water, only about 2. Compounding all of this is the fact that the cape town government was unwilling to admit the scale of. For example, it exported 211 tonnes of platinum in 2012. Why cape town is running out of water, and the cities that. Turning finance into services for 2015 and beyond there is a shortage of the necessary skills and experience at the artisan, technical, engineering, and management levels to operate, maintain, and manage water services appropriately in many municipalities. Climate trends globally and in south africa the impacts of the current drought have been magnified by the high temperatures experienced simultaneously, particularly in the last three years.
South africas high percapita usage rates are also, partly, a function of high levels of nonrevenue water i. Informing the western cape agricultural sector on the 2015. When you have eliminated the javascript, whatever remains must be an empty page. To do so, the cape town water map figure 4 was developed. Drought and water crisis in southern africa jrc publications. As observed in 2015, the increasing severity of this drought is impacting negatively on the country in both social and economic terms. As more and more people migrate into cities from rural villages the. Africa is one of the two major regions with the least improvement in accomplishing the mdg on sanitation by 2015. Including environmental impacts, this figure may rise to 1% of global gross domestic product gdp agriculture accounts for of all water withdrawals globally and for over in the.
Despite the fact that north africa has 90% coverage, subsaharan africa has a. Mar 29, 2018 cape towns water management had proven very successful in recent years. Drought declared a national disaster in south africa. Reusing shower water, limiting toilet flushing and nighttime irrigation were among measures that saved south africas second city from running dry. Capetonians collect water from the kalk bay spring on feb. Cape town, south africa drastic efforts are underway in south africa to save a major, modern city from running out of water for the first time ever. Africa, development and natural capital, development and moral capital, water and development, water and sanitation, water and poverty alleviation, neoliberalism. Pdf south africas water crisis an interdisciplinary approach. This makes south africa the worlds 30th driest country. But its just one of many cities around the world facing a future. With a complete lack of water, humans can only live up to 3 to 5 days on average. What the drought did was highlight existing vulnerabilities in south africa s water system, and properly frame the magnitude of the challenge of ensuring water security for the country. South africa receives an annual rainfall of 492 millimetres whereas the rest of the earth receives 985 millimetres. He describes south africa as possibly the worlds most waterstressed country that will experience a major crisis within a decade if the situation is not brought under control.
In cape town, south africa, theyre calling it day zero the day when the taps run dry. It then reflects on whether the country is water secure and, if not, what is required to rectify the situation. Climate change has affected water supplies within the region. Finding solutions to south africas water crisis south. South africa is facing one of the worst droughts to hit the region in 30 years, affecting food production and prices, while many small farmers are. Without water you cant grow food, you cant build housing, you cant stay healthy, you cant stay in school and you cant keep working. Experiences and lessons in managing water from cape town. The causes of cape towns water crisis are hotly contested.
Jan 31, 2018 south africa s water crisis spreads from cape town. South africa grapples with worst drought in 30 years bbc. About twice the size of texas it is home to 49 million people. Cape town residents queue to refill water bottles at newlands spring on january 31, 2018, in cape town, south africa. South africas water crisis is bigger than the cape reliefweb. International water management institute iwmi, southern africa regional office. A revised longterm water supply and demand forecast for south africa hereafter parched prospects 2 was released in march 2016. Here are a collection of shocking facts that illustrate the scale of south africas present water crisis. South africas water crisis is bigger than the cape by iss today 6 february 2018 sa is overexploiting its water system, and the problem is getting harder and costlier to fix. While dam water levels had been declining since 2015, the cape town water crisis peaked during mid2017 to mid2018 when water levels hovered between 15 and 30 per cent of total dam capacity. That will leave 40 percent of the population without access to the water it needs. Water crisis how resilient is your organisation in the face of the current water crisis. This often forces those living in water deprived regions to turn to unsafe water resources, which, according to the world health organization, contributes to the spread of waterborne diseases including typhoid. After the department of water and sanitation saws issued a warning about potential shortages for the citys water supply in 2007, the city acted quickly to decrease its water consumption in order to meet the sawss 2015 16 water saving target.
Distribution of mean annual rainfall in south africa. Government on water scarcity and drought south african. Water scarcity international decade for action water. South africa 16 the deputy minister of energy inspects electrification project in namakgale 17 south africa international renewable energy conference 18 state of the nation address extracts by his excellency jacob g zuma on 12 february 2015 20 south africas energy situation 23 new shipping vessels hired for offshore support duty 24 top 20. Jan 26, 2014 after the death of four protesters in the north west over water shortages, ewn takes a look at the conditions south africans are forced to live in, and the looming water crisis. Mar 05, 2018 why cape town is running out of water, and whos next the south african city plans to shut off the taps to 4 million people. Since 2015, the rainfall has been abnormally low5, 17.
Water supply and distribution schemes in south africa were historically created to serve. To add to the pressure on water resources, the western cape is also one of the most visited areas of south africa by international and domestic tourists. Between 1990 and 2010, two billion people gained access to improved drinking water sources. The south african city plans to shut off the taps to 4 million people. The cape town south africa drought is explained as a combination of lack of rainfall, surface water resources already at the sustainable supply limit, increasing demand, poor decisionmaking and. Water security in south africa page 5 development planning division working paper series no. Today, hope is on hold in over half of the developing worlds primary schools without access to water and sanitation. October 2015 february 2016 rainfall anomaly % of the 19822011 average for southern africa.
South africa is a water scarce country and ranks as one of the 30 driest countries in the world with an average rainfall. Population growing faster than storage since 1995 the citys population has grown 79%, from about 2. There are many reasons that attribute to this growing water crisis in south africa. Foto24 via getty images sheep seen on manie van rooys farm on november 6, 2015 near frankfort, south africa. This body of work has explored the future of south africas water sector using ifs. A map showing the location of cape town, south africa. In 2010, 89 per cent of the worlds population, or 6. Whounicef joint monitoring programme for water supply and sanitation. Like many countries in the world, south africa is dealing with growing water challenges.
Residents are encouraged to continue logging calls using the channels listed below. South africa, a waterstressed country, also exports oil products, minerals, and metals, all of which require enormous amounts of water. Water crisis water is life water is an essential part of our everyday life. This led to some of the citys major dams, like theewaterskloof dam, carrying a storage level of less than 10%. The most recent publication in this series parched prospects ii. It is also experiencing the worst drought in 23 years, and demand for water is not slowing down. South africa severe drought dg echo daily map 22022018. State of water in south africa a researchers perspective. Jul 12, 2015 south africa is fast approaching a water crisis of disastrous proportions democratic alliance leader mmusi maimane said on sunday adding that the country was the 30th driest in the world. We have been gripped by the drought crisis, joining other regions of the world which are. Mar 22, 2018 the top five countries that contribute to humanitys total water footprint appear belowalong with south africa, where the city of cape town is facing a crisislevel water shortage. Cape town, south africa experienced an especially severe drought in 2017 2018 after several years of.
Jan 24, 2018 in cape town, south africa, theyre calling it day zero the day when the taps run dry. Turning finance into services for 2015 and beyond there is a shortage of the necessary skills and experience at the artisan, technical, engineering, and management levels to operate, maintain, and manage water services appropriately in. Jan 25, 2018 the cape town water crisis is starting to reach peak panic mode, the hope for a natural solution ended with the close of the main rainy season last year and it is clear that water in the dams. A growing water crisis in south africa the globalist. Water scarcity international decade for action water for. Some projections estimate that south africa already exploits about 98% of its available water supply resources. The latest united nations world water development report, released just ahead of world water day on march 22, warns that, by 2030, only 60 percent of the worlds demand for water will be met by existing resources at the current rate of use. Moreover, the 2015 drought came on the back of three consecutive years of. Ultimately, it relies on a limited water supply that is highly subject to seasonal influence. Water in most ssa countries is concentrated on agricultural and household use, followed by energy generation and industrial uses. Water shortage in south africa south african tours and.
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