Cape Town water crisis

What if we turn on the taps and nothing comes out? With dam levels at record lows and rain still not falling, this is a serious threat facing a city of four million people. GroundUp did an in-depth investigation of the water crisis.

GroundUp's investigation into the water crisis

• 15 May 2017: Water shortage in photos
• 16 May 2017: What's causing the problem — but the following article is more up-to-date (22 January 2018): How severe is the drought? An analysis of the latest data
• 17 May 2017: Data and the water shortage
• 18 May 2017: What is being done and what needs to be done
• 19 May 2017: What happens if the dams dry out
• 21 July 2017: What government is doing

Also see:

• Cape Town's precarious water supply (8 June 2016)
• This water crisis will not be Cape Town's last (17 Feb 2017)
• Cape Town's taps could really run dry (3 April 2017)
• Drought: Cape Town may ban swimming pool top-ups  (13 April 2017)

Useful articles on other sites

The University of Cape Town has an excellent series on the Cape Town water crisis.

Also see:

• How severe is the drought? by Dr Piotr Wolski, UCT’s Climate System Analysis Group
• Water restrictions explained on City of Cape Town website
• Cape Town's weekly dam levels on City of Cape Town website

Articles on Cape Town water crisis