Cape Town cuts back to survive worst drought in 100 years

As Cape Town suffers its worst drought in a century, residents have been told to restrict showers to two minutes and flush toilets only when “absolutely necessary”.

The city — South Africa’s biggest tourist hotspot — and the surrounding Western Cape province have been declared a disaster area by the local government, with just 10 percent of usable water left in the dams supplying the area.

Two hours from the city, Theewaterskloof Dam, the main source of water for Cape Town, has been reduced to a flat and sandy desert, with the petrified remains of orchards flooded when the dam was built in the 1970s standing starkly under the sun.

At the local watersports club, exposed moorings reveal where sailboats once floated. The long slipway now ends about 30 metres (100 feet) from the water’s edge.

“I’ve worked here for about 20 years and I’ve never ever seen the dam this low,” club secretary Lise Wheeler told AFP.

For Cape Town residents, the drought has let to a gradual escalation of restrictions, from the limits on splashing at public pools earlier this year to the current complete ban on topping-up swimming pools or watering gardens.

The newest restrictions limit residents to 100 litres (22 Imperial, 26 US gallons) per person per day and rule out its use for anything other than cooking, drinking and essential cleaning.