Cape Town First Major World City To Run Out of Water

LewisBraham

This deserves to be a bigger story and has interesting social, climate, economic and even investing implications. The city is experiencing its worst drought in a century:

https://ft.com/content/8a438352-fc76-11e7-a492-2c9be7f3120a

cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-january-23-2018-1.4498738/cape-town-is-about-to-become-the-first-major-city-in-the-world-to-run-out-of-water-1.4498798

https://npr.org/2018/01/23/579784235/drought-stricken-cape-town-braces-for-water-to-run-out-in-april

https://theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/24/cape-town-to-run-out-of-water-by-12-april-amid-worst-drought-in-a-century

From the NPR article:

When Cape Town reaches "Day Zero," residents in the popular tourist city of 3.7 million will have to line up to collect 6.5 gallons of drinking water per person per day at some 200 distribution stations. Those restrictions adhere to the World Health Organization's guidelines for the minimum amount of water needed in emergencies.

But other experts say city planners failed to anticipate that the city's six dams, which are sourced by rainfall, would run out of water as drought worsened and the population grew, Fihlani says. Dam levels have dropped to 15.2 percent capacity of usable water, down from 77 percent in Sept. 2015, according to The Los Angeles Times.