March 2018 Day Zero of Cape Town South Arica:
This year we witnessed what may have been one of the best city wide collaborations in conservation that I have witnessed. For those of you who don't know what Cape Town's Day Zero was here's some backstory. Back in 2018 Cape Town, South Africa a semi-arid country had three years of a rain deficit leading to the depletion of reservoirs to 20% capacity, this lead to heavy restrictions within the city on all persons limiting them to 50 liters of water a day.
On average according to the Mayo Clinic men need 3.7 liters a day and women need 2.7 liters a day, the remaining liters are for flushing toilets leading to people leaving urine in the bowl until solids needed to be flushed, showering which there was a hefty fine for anyone who took a shower longer than two minutes, artist even began writing songs exactly two minutes long so you would know when to stop the shower. These restrictions were necessary because if anyone is familiar with the tragedy of the commons it has been shown that people will make decisions on how to use a limited public recourse for their own benefit and will lead to the depletion of resources. This all came about due to various factors along with the drought there is corruption in the Cape Town Department of Water and Sanitation and them failing to better the water systems ahead of time. Cape Town isn't the only city that will experience this "Day Zero" that they were able to delay for the time being, California, Southern Australia, Southern Europe, and parts of South America are predicted to be in the same boat according to NOAA’s Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory.
Cape Town's plight reminds me not entirely of a exactly similar issue but with a country that has already undergone much water loss, Afghanistan, or Pakistan, or even parts of India. These three countries in Parenti's book Tropic of Chaos: Climate Change and the New Geography of Violence all had water issues from a collapsed government such as in Afghanistan or to two countries armed with nukes and arguments about water rights. I view the whole world becoming a large tragedy of the commons on water resources, every continent will have water issues and stemming from that there is a good chance some of the "diplomacy" in the future on water rights may use guns rather than pens. This won't solve much of anything other than raise hatred between those who once were friends, neighbors, or even allies as each man, woman, city, and country fight for "their" water. The best way to go forward from here and hopefully avoid day zero is to work together now and not wait until the last minute to struggle to put a plan together. Proper Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance.
Places to read more about this:
Stanford View on Day Zero as of November 2020
Increasing risk of another Cape Town “Day Zero” drought in the 21st century- PNAS
This was an excellent blog to read about. This was a great change from the negativity and pessimism about climate change. Using Cape Town as guide for other countries on how to conserve water is a great strategy I think. Well written article.
ReplyDeleteIts interesting to compare how we live to people in Cape Town. Most Americans I am sure could not image a water ration like this being implemented. However, this is a reality that we could all face in the coming future.
ReplyDeleteThis has some serious potential for violence. Like you said maybe will use weapons instead of pens. Its hard for people like us to even think it would be possible to have a water shortage here in the US.
ReplyDeleteThis is definitely an interesting concept, thank you for this post! Even the idea of how people adapt to those regulations (artists writing 2 minute songs, oh my god!) sounds like something out of this world to be honest
ReplyDeleteI thought it was interesting to see the actions taken by citizens of Cape Town in order to circumscribe "Day Zero" as you mentioned in your piece. However, I still feel badly for the people who had to take these actions in order to preserve their lives.
ReplyDeleteIt is truly disheartening that people are expected to only use 50 liters of water a day. We have such a luxury living here. For the most part, we can take showers as long as we want, do laundry as often as we need, do dishes with no issues, and simply drink water when we are thirsty. I wonder if there is a solid foundation of non profit organization from more stable countries to help out. I'm curious to see the statistics for that.
ReplyDeleteAggregate water usage really adds up quick. As I sit here 5 minutes from lake Michigan, your post has elevated my appreciation. Beyond that though, conservation efforts still must be made. Thank you for illustrating the life of water rationing.
ReplyDeleteI knew absolutely anything about this water rationing that took place, articles such as this really put into your mind how much Americans take water for granted. Its the "leaving urine and feces in the toilet" that did it for me.
ReplyDeleteThe part of your blog where you said that people will find was to use the limited resources to their own advantage really speaks to how people often times will take advantage of others for their own prosperity, even in life-threatening situations such as water limitations.
ReplyDeleteInteresting stuff here. Reminds me a lot of the pandemic and how people are becoming forced to change their lifestyles due to environmental and health concerns. Good thing we've had experience with the pandemic, because I feel like living differently will be a common theme in the future.
ReplyDeleteThe water demands of a modern country do look a little insane when comparing to certain land-locked or desert covered regions that rely entirely on seasonal river floods. We have our own in the US drying up IE the Colorado River. And there are some in America who want to divert it to water a desert. Sometimes for housing development... What even are some people's priorities?
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