Water – waste not, want not

The international debate on climate change – taking place as it does in the rich cities of the West – seems a world away from us here on the southern tip of Africa, where mere day-today survival excludes almost everything else.

Yet, in South Africa and in most parts of this continent, there is an environmental crisis already upon us. Water is scarce and will become even more so as rainfall becomes less predictable in the years ahead – thanks to climate change – and as populations grow and industries demand more of it.

The Lesotho Highlands Water Scheme has just closed for routine maintenance for two months and, in that time, no more water will be tapped from there for the Vaal Dam, Gauteng’s main water supply.

In the next eight weeks, all of us are going to have to go easy on water.

It is an opportune moment for those of us in the suburbs particularly to examine our lifestyles and whether we need the thirsty pools and gardens we have become used to.

Water, we need to realise, is not a right. It is a privilege – one which can be withdrawn at any moment by humans or nature.

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