Here’s the intro paragraphs to my water crisis article Drought is the New Normal in the December 2015 issue of Popular Mechanics magazine:
In 2009, the lush green southern Cape was declared a disaster zone. The headlines proclaimed it the worst drought in one hundred and thirty years. Millions of rand were ploughed into damming the Breede River, desalination plants and, as a temporary measure, trucking water from George. With gardens and agriculture being the biggest leeches on our water supply, it’s telling that this fate befell the famed Garden Route.
Also more telling is the speed at which local government acted to alleviate the cost of trucking water from nearby towns, a harsh reality that has long faced Northern Cape towns. But yet, even with a water restriction sign up in my guesthouse bathroom, I still kept the shower running while lathering up with shower gel. It can’t be that bad, surely?
Water demand in Cape Town has reached capacity.
The Department of Water and Sanitation estimates that the Berg River dam project has pushed back the crisis date to 2022, with the Table Mountain Group Aquifer, seawater desalination and augmenting of the Voëlvlei dam earmarked as measures to deal with 2035’s worst-case scenario 800 million m3 -a-year consumption needs.
Knysna is always the first to fall, and it seems that history will repeat itself. Better stock up on chlorine pills.