Cape Town to become 1st major city to run out of water

I missed your post.

Here's the WSJ on the same subject:

 

Politics is a big cause of water scarcity in California as well.

 

What's Actually Behind Cape Town's Water Crisis

 

Phoenix.

Plight of Phoenix: how long can the world’s 'least sustainable' city survive?

 

This thread pops up again as I'm stranded in....Johannesburg. We flew from Cape Town to Joburg yesterday and we're entering security when the guy said our flight to JFK had just been canceled because of the storm. And now today we could only get onto a Saturday flight. So it's a hotel for a few days.

As for Day Zero, it kept getting pushed back during our six weeks until they finally said they should be able to avoid it, thanks to water saving efforts and some of the alternative methods. But that's assuming they get winter rain. If they go fourth straight year without it, they're right back to counting down to it. There was a two day water outage at the in-laws but that had nothing to do with Day Zero. Still it was a preview of what could happen. Fortunately they have boerhole water so we filled five-liter bottles that we used to flush the toilet. Overall it was remarkable how water-conscious a person can become. Making sure to never run it when brushing teeth, limiting flushing, fast showers. It's all things we should probably always do. That said, whenever the hell we finally get back to NYC, I'm taking a long bath.

Also during our stay a listeria outbreak killed several people, the president was forced to resign and the new president said they will go forward with land expropriation without compensation. But that's a thread for another time. And it was still, as always, an awesome time being here, despite all of those things.

 

Splash piece here from HuffPost.

The Unlikely Upside of Cape Town's Drought

 

Thanks a lot for the link, Az. Really interesting, though I'd disagree with a few of her observations.

But I did chuckle at her somehow gagging over the guy reaching into dirty water from her shower to use in the toilet (which isn't gross at all) while she was giddy at seeing shit in the toilet when she went to use it. Even the government is encouraging if it's brown, flush it down! She was showing how far she came in few days but still....flush the shit.

 

We're six weeks into our seven-week trip this year and the water situation has improved from a year ago. The major dams are doing better after the city received some pretty good rain last winter. But there are still pretty severe restrictions with the water.

But the excitement this year: electricity. We're currently in a weeklong stretch of load-shedding, the term they give for rolling blackouts across the country. Right now we have no power for 7.5 hours a day, three 2.5-hour stretches. Different parts of the country go dark at different times. This has happened before but not for about three years and now there's no end in sight. Not good. State-owned Eskom is responsible for 95 percent of electricity in the country and the company is in shambles, from corruption and mismanagement.

Like with water, it's remarkable how much we take for granted something as seemingly simple as power, until you no longer have it for hours and hours at a time. It's also scary for the country because this can derail the entire economy and obviously threaten lives. The fact this is taking place in the summer, when they use less electricity than in the winter here, is also a bad, bad sign.

Few stories:
Eskom, government plans for Stage 5 and Stage 6 load shedding to stave off national blackouts

#LoadShedding: Is it deliberate or is it a genuine breakdown at Eskom? | Cape Argus

'I don't have my normal life anymore' - load shedding has South Africans fuming

'Eskom is lying to us': Power cuts already near stage 5, warns energy expert

 

Cadallac Desert is indeed a great book.

 

Istanbul is on the clock:

Turkey drought: Istanbul could run out of water in 45 days | World news | The Guardian