<P> A drought in the Western Cape province of South Africa began in 2015 , resulting in a severe water shortage in the region , most notably affecting the City of Cape Town and commercial agriculture . In early 2018 , with dam levels predicted to decline to critically low levels by April , the city announced plans for `` Day Zero '' , when if a particular lower limit of water storage was reached , the municipal water supply would largely be shut off , potentially making Cape Town the first major city to run out of water . Through water saving measures and water supply augmentation , by March 2018 the City had reduced its daily water usage by more than half to around 500 million litres ( 110,000,000 imp gal ; 130,000,000 US gal ) per day . Combined with good rains in the winter of 2018 , by June 2018 dam levels had increased to 43 % of capacity , which enabled the City of Cape Town to announce that `` Day Zero '' was unlikely for 2019 . Water restrictions will remain in place until dam levels reach 85 % , and by 16 July 2018 , the dam storage levels have reached 55.1 % . </P>
<P> A drought in the Western Cape province of South Africa began in 2015 , resulting in a severe water shortage in the region , most notably affecting the City of Cape Town and commercial agriculture . In early 2018 , with dam levels predicted to decline to critically low levels by April , the city announced plans for `` Day Zero '' , when if a particular lower limit of water storage was reached , the municipal water supply would largely be shut off , potentially making Cape Town the first major city to run out of water . Through water saving measures and water supply augmentation , by March 2018 the City had reduced its daily water usage by more than half to around 500 million litres ( 110,000,000 imp gal ; 130,000,000 US gal ) per day . Combined with good rains in the winter of 2018 , by June 2018 dam levels had increased to 43 % of capacity , which enabled the City of Cape Town to announce that `` Day Zero '' was unlikely for 2019 . Water restrictions will remain in place until dam levels reach 85 % , and by 16 July 2018 , the dam storage levels have reached 55.1 % . </P>
the cause of water scarcity in cape town
the cause of water scarcity in cape town
drought
drought