Written
by: KaRa Lyn Thompson
Program Intern, World Affairs Council of
Atlanta
Student, University of West Georgia
Published: 04/26/2018
Student, University of West Georgia
Published: 04/26/2018
Water
is Life: What Cape Town Taught Me
Written
by KaRa Lyn Thompson
Cape Town, South Africa was one of the first
cities in the world to declare a ‘Day Zero’, the apocalyptic nightmare of
rationing what a person in the developed world would think is a basic human
right: water.
As people living in the United States, many of
us enjoy the luxury of having water at our fingertips. We use it for our
relaxing 20-minute showers and our clothes that must be washed after each use.
We use it to shine our glamorous automobiles and to swim in during the summer
heat. However, this is not a similar picture around the world. In Cape Town,
all these uses and more have been threatened. In fear of not having drinkable
water, Capetonians have been advised to limit their daily household consumption
to 50 litres (approximately 13 gallons). This alludes to a 90-second shower,
using hand sanitizer instead of washing hands, and plenty of other tips to keep
usage low.
The water crisis in Cape Town is predicted to
be due to both global warming and poor rainfall which has plagued the city.
Cape Town has been experiencing low rainfall for three years in a row. They are
in the midst of a long drought.
Day Zero is calculated as the day when the
city’s dam storage reaches 13.5%. The City of Cape Town will turn off the water
supply and begin rationing. As I read through the plans provided by the City, I
imagined a scene from a sci-fi movie. It almost seems unreal, but in actuality
Cape Town is not the only city predicted to deal with these issues.
São Paulo, Bangalore, Beijing, Cairo, Jakarta,
Moscow, Istanbul, Mexico City, London, Tokyo, and Miami. These eleven cities
are facing near-future crisis with drinkable water. Cape Town’s efforts to be
mindful of water usage should serve as a catalyst to cities all over the world.
After visiting Cape Town over spring break, I
found that some of the locals had a different opinion about the water usage in
their city. In almost every public place, the taps were turned off with signs
stating the urgency to conserve water. The mass amount of marketing for Day
Zero actually led to conflict amongst citizens and the government in South
Africa. People felt like the government was lying about Day Zero or they
panicked thinking their water was going to be in the hands of someone other
than themselves.
Possibly the conflict came from the way the
government communicated the crisis. However, it is important to note that water
is not an infinite source, along with a lot of other natural resources that we
take for granted. The use of Day Zero and its grand marketing strategy has
caused an international awareness of the need to efficiently measure and use
water. Although the tactic might have seemed untrustworthy or extreme, it has
nudged consumers to alter their behaviors.
Capetonians were able to push Day Zero back
into 2019 by sharply reducing their water consumption. But the inevitable day
is still among us. Although not all of us in and around Atlanta have to wonder
if we will have access to clean water in the near future, hopefully we can take
actions to treat our natural resources with humility. We hope that we don't
have to meet Day Zero to understand that we must properly care for the
resources that we currently exploit.
For more information, check out these links:
Wesgro - Cape Town and Western Cape’s Tourism,
Trade, & Investment
City of Cape Town/ Government Websites
The 11 cities most likely to run out of
drinking water - like Cape Town, BBC
