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Image courtesy of Steve Conover's Flickr account - David Stanley's Flickr account - Victoria and Albert Waterfront: https://www.flickr.com/photos/davidstanleytravel/16443564997/in/photolist-r44yZk-pmJHSH-C7M1yY-qfAuiq-JKH4bf-uFK4f3-qhGHmF-raKaCr-qxig49-rbYgUo-r9hx42-r5KSK6-teZjPo-r9n7Kv-qhSHkx-ramWqZ-r8arZU-rurPe6-rBExHP-v3n1F9-tiuYHW-GxbmzT-nBqHrh-TGC63m-nmY146-nmYkvd-nDtoyY-ti8tra-ob6s9f-nBqpw9-qqpzqt-nmZQCg-Gmc68d-nDcyXH-GcG3SY-nDfQaG-pXhrr8-rBEiM2-opxKGp-DsFxm4-bmqEL4-Na4U4J-GEpzDF-GC3d4G-Ju3otQ-HYwYPR-S2hCkP-nn1jjS-nFftvz-wRpq9K
Late in the 20th century and early into the 21st century, we kept hearing reports that water would be to this century what oil was to the last one. That there would be serious, even severe, water shortages. Wars would be fought over water.
For a little while, that might have seemed unlikely, perhaps even seriously improbable. After all, the United States went to war again in the Middle East very early in the 21st century, and everyone seemed interested in getting oil revenues.
In the past few years, however, those issues around water are starting to feel a lot more believable now.
Our relationship with water has changed dramatically, and this is one change that I have actually seen much of in my own lifetime. Back when I was a kid, if you wanted a glass of water, you simply went to a water fountain, or got a glass and went to the nearest sink. But somewhere around the time when the late 1980's melted into the early 1990's, bottled water started becoming more and more popular, fueled by the idea that tap water was no longer to be trusted. The idea was there now that we should pay for water, and not surprisingly, the price of water went up and up.
That was not the only major change in our relationship to water. I can now remember water restrictions being imposed right here in my home state of New Jersey, not a state known for being particularly dry. But in the summer of 1999, we had a long, hot, humid summer. Humid, but with very little rainfall. Lawns died, which meant gardens died. For the first time that I could remember, there were indeed restrictions placed on water - restrictions that the rich people that my father worked for that year (and I was working with him) seemed to conveniently ignore. This left an impression on my mind, as did the idea that even a state like New Jersey could have a serious drought. It has happened to varying degrees since then.
Our relationship with water has changed dramatically, and this is one change that I have actually seen much of in my own lifetime. Back when I was a kid, if you wanted a glass of water, you simply went to a water fountain, or got a glass and went to the nearest sink. But somewhere around the time when the late 1980's melted into the early 1990's, bottled water started becoming more and more popular, fueled by the idea that tap water was no longer to be trusted. The idea was there now that we should pay for water, and not surprisingly, the price of water went up and up.
That was not the only major change in our relationship to water. I can now remember water restrictions being imposed right here in my home state of New Jersey, not a state known for being particularly dry. But in the summer of 1999, we had a long, hot, humid summer. Humid, but with very little rainfall. Lawns died, which meant gardens died. For the first time that I could remember, there were indeed restrictions placed on water - restrictions that the rich people that my father worked for that year (and I was working with him) seemed to conveniently ignore. This left an impression on my mind, as did the idea that even a state like New Jersey could have a serious drought. It has happened to varying degrees since then.
The western United States had an unbelievable drought that last years. Water restrictions were imposed, and the drought kept going. More serious measures were taken. Then, water finally came in the winter of 2016-17, and despite still being low, perhaps the most serious part of the crisis seemed to have abated. And in the nation that epitomizes short attention span, the problem was out of sight, out of mind.
But this is a global problem, and it still persists. Indeed, it is growing worse. And perhaps the most striking example is something that is happening right now in a country that is no stranger to difficulties and tragedies that the United States, as a nation, could relate to.
I am talking about South Africa. This was a land that, in the past quarter century and change, has dealt with serious racial issues, including the challenges of dismantling the legal edifice of an officially racist system of laws. It is a nation that has been dealing with record disease and crime and glaring issues with economic and social inequality, often with the racial dimensions evident, although that is no longer necessarily exclusively the case. If you have been paying attention even to the headlines coming out of South Africa, you will also know that major problems with corruption, and with disaffection with the major political party there, are also plaguing that nation.
These are all issues that Americans could certainly relate to.
And now, the most recent crisis is something that we Americans, and indeed, the rest of the world, can relate to as well. It is, of course, a crisis with not having enough water, specifically in Cape Town.
Now, you might think it strange that Cape Town, a city that borders an ocean, and is not far from another ocean, would not necessarily face such issues. But you would be wrong. The water crisis is very real, and now very, very pressing. News recently came out that the city will run out of water in the very near future. How near? Try April 1st.
No, that's not an early April Fool's Day joke. This is a very real situation, a crisis that the locals in Cape Town will have to deal with in just around ten to eleven weeks or so.
Here's the thing: Cape Town is a modern city, with roughly four million people living in and around the city. It has been one of the major centers in South Africa since the earliest days of the nation's history, since Jan Van Riebeeck came to these shores with the Dutch East India Company, and effectively established an outpost for the company. Much of what came to be the modern nation of South Africa, with all of the racial problems that came and have co-existed along with it ever since, began there. And Cape Town was one of the economic centers of Africa ever since. It flourished as a trading post in those early days of de facto colonialism, and even more so when the British entered the picture. It became one of the two largest cities in South Africa, and has remained so ever since. Many of the problems facing post-apartheid South Africa, from social inequality to crime to diseases and, now, to water shortages, were arguably most evident in this city. Cape Town is still one of the largest urban areas on the African continent, as well as one of the ones with the most modern infrastructure, and thus, it now might become the first - but not likely the last - major modern city to face the seriousness of severe water shortages.
How serious?
Well, the plan - at least for now - is for water to be distributed to local residents under the watchful eye of armed guards. And citizens will be restricted to less than seven gallons per day.
There are now a lot of questions to be asked. Will Cape Town find some more permanent solution? Will they finally get much needed rain? Will the water rationing measures be peacefully?
But perhaps more than any other question, the one we should be asking ourselves - all of us, around the world, really - is whether or not this is some kind of a fluky thing that just happens to coincide with what scientists have long predicted, or if this is just the first major instance of a something, some new kind of trend, that we will be seeing again and again in the coming years and decades?
Here's the thing: Cape Town is a modern city, with roughly four million people living in and around the city. It has been one of the major centers in South Africa since the earliest days of the nation's history, since Jan Van Riebeeck came to these shores with the Dutch East India Company, and effectively established an outpost for the company. Much of what came to be the modern nation of South Africa, with all of the racial problems that came and have co-existed along with it ever since, began there. And Cape Town was one of the economic centers of Africa ever since. It flourished as a trading post in those early days of de facto colonialism, and even more so when the British entered the picture. It became one of the two largest cities in South Africa, and has remained so ever since. Many of the problems facing post-apartheid South Africa, from social inequality to crime to diseases and, now, to water shortages, were arguably most evident in this city. Cape Town is still one of the largest urban areas on the African continent, as well as one of the ones with the most modern infrastructure, and thus, it now might become the first - but not likely the last - major modern city to face the seriousness of severe water shortages.
How serious?
Well, the plan - at least for now - is for water to be distributed to local residents under the watchful eye of armed guards. And citizens will be restricted to less than seven gallons per day.
There are now a lot of questions to be asked. Will Cape Town find some more permanent solution? Will they finally get much needed rain? Will the water rationing measures be peacefully?
But perhaps more than any other question, the one we should be asking ourselves - all of us, around the world, really - is whether or not this is some kind of a fluky thing that just happens to coincide with what scientists have long predicted, or if this is just the first major instance of a something, some new kind of trend, that we will be seeing again and again in the coming years and decades?
Cape Town Will Run Out Of Water In Just 90 Days by Trevor Nace, January 18, 2018:
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