A drought in three South African provinces that is threatening to leave Cape Town residential areas without any municipally-supplied water has been declared a national disaster by South Africa’s government. The Northern Cape, Western Cape and Eastern Cape had already been declared provincial disaster areas over the crisis, but the magnitude and severity of the emergency prompted the national executive to reclassify their status on Tuesday. The National Disaster Management Centre has taken over management of the crisis, its deputy director general, Dr Mmaphaka Tau, said in a statement. The latest data from Cape Town officials shows that the city’s six feeder dams were on average 24.9 per cent full as of February 13th. In its efforts to avoid Day Zero, city officials have introduced several “demand management” techniques to help reduce water usage.

Source: The Irish Times February 14, 2018 15:33 UTC