Drought in South Africa

• Avg rainfall = only 500m (global avg = 860 mm) so South Africa is vulnerable to any deficits in precipitation
• Drought is hence a regular and recurrent feature of South African climate and is becoming increasingly frequent

  Five year 2013 - 2017 drought was the worst
• Climate change = undrlying factor
• El Niño events (e.g 2016 and 2019) exacerbate water supply situation
• S. Africa does have sufficient groundwater supplies but drought-induced shortages of surface water have led to falling levels of this supply
• S. Africa is a member of BRICS group
• Demographic and Economic factors:

  • Rapidly increasing population in West Cape province (especially in Cape Town)
  • Increased demands from growing agricultural and industrial economy
• Pressures and lack of forward planning in building increased reservoir storage capacity contributed to drought
• Effect of drought = hydrological, ecological, economic and social
• Short term solutions:

  • Restricting water use especially in Cape Town (day 0 in 2017)
  • Shorter showers
  • Fewer flushes
  • Use of grey water
• Long term solutions:

  • Threefold response of predict, prepare and plan is being developed at national, regional and local scales