drought has caused the water crisis in cape town.
drought has caused the water crisis in cape town.
what has caused the water crisis in cape town?
drought
this water crisis has spurred research into, and the adoption of, more water-efficient methods of farming. farmers have increasingly adopted agricultural precision technology to gain better insight into water use on their farm. researchers from the university of cape town are examining traits from wild plants that can grow with limited water, with hopes of replicating such traits in food crops through conventional breeding and biotechnology. other scientists are studying metabolism of plants to learn how they use less water during photosynthesis, which enables them to survive during long periods of severe drought. it is noteworthy that despite having the largest area under irrigation (269 476 ha), the western cape also has the lowest, and most efficient water use per area unit (5 874 cubic metres per ha) among the country's provinces.
cape town water crisis
the cape town water crisis have laid bare the water distributional inequalities in the city. although one fifth of cape town's population lives in informal settlements (also known as townships), only 3.6 percent of the province's water supply went to such settlements in 2016/2017. this is so as residential demand for water is a function of infrastructure provided, and households relying on communal standpipes--as is the case in most townships--consume a lot less water than households with an in-house connection. this means that in practice, many of the residents of informal settlements already consume water at levels compliant with level 6b restrictions and saw no substantial change in lifestyle before and during the water crisis. observers have criticized the government's neglect of such water security and equity problems in the informal settlements prior to the cape town water crisis. human rights watch released a statement, imploring the government to "keep respect for and fulfillment of fundamental rights at the core of a sustainable resolution, and ensure that allocation of water is prioritized according to vital needs."
cape town water crisis