--- title: To Survive Drought, California Should Learn From Cape Town description: Cape Town nearly ran out of water in 2018. As Los Angeles faces its own water crisis, it can learn how the city staved off 'Day Zero.' canonical: https://time.com/6187823/california-drought-cape-town-water-crisis/ author: Aryn Baker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2022-06-15T20:31:04.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:51:41.074Z article:section: Climate og:title: Drought-Ridden California Should Learn From Cape Town's Water Crisis og:description: Almost half the global population will experience “severe water stress” by 2030 og:url: https://time.com/6187823/california-drought-cape-town-water-crisis/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt397222359021ff60/698a32db011682a2d2981fa6/drought-california-climate-change.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: California's Reservoirs Drop To Dangerous Levels og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Drought-Ridden California Should Learn From Cape Town's Water Crisis twitter:description: Almost half the global population will experience “severe water stress” by 2030 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt397222359021ff60/698a32db011682a2d2981fa6/drought-california-climate-change.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # To Survive Severe Drought This Summer, California Should Learn From Cape Town's Water Crisis > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Future Proof: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Future Proof is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Making sense of the climate and energy economy. Future Proof examines the forces transforming energy and climate, and what those changes mean for business, technology, policy and the global economy. Senior correspondent Justin Worland goes beyond traditional climate coverage to connect the energy transition to the bigger decisions reshaping companies, markets and society. 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Future Proof is TIME's weekly climate and energy newsletter, written by senior correspondent Justin Worland. It connects the energy transition to the decisions reshaping business, technology, policy and markets. #### Where can I follow the energy transition as a business story? Future Proof covers climate and energy as an economic and business story rather than only an environmental one. It publishes every Friday and is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who writes Future Proof? Justin Worland, a senior correspondent at TIME and an award-winning climate journalist, writes Future Proof. #### Is Future Proof free? Yes. Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: How to Live On 13 Gallons of Water a Day [Watch (HLS stream): How to Live On 13 Gallons of Water a Day](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/aGQ442mI.m3u8) (3:07)  _Published 2018-02-08. Time's Aryn Baker shows how her family is conserving water. Cape Town, a coastal paradise of 4 million on the southern tip of South Africa, is to become the first modern major city in the world to completely run dry (2018)_ by [Aryn Baker](https://time.com/author/aryn-baker/) ## Aryn Baker Jun 15, 2022 8:31 PM UTC  Castaic Lake, a large 325,000 acre-feet water reservoir now at 49% capacity, is a major source of water for much of the San Fernando and Santa Clarita Valleys as well as the greater Los Angeles area as viewed on July 9, 2021, in Castaic, California. Castaic Lake, a large 325,000 acre-feet water reservoir now at 49% capacity, is a major source of water for much of the San Fernando and Santa Clarita Valleys as well as the greater Los Angeles area as viewed on July 9, 2021, in Castaic, California. George Rose—Getty Images by [Aryn Baker](https://time.com/author/aryn-baker/) ## Aryn Baker Jun 15, 2022 8:31 PM UTC In my household we shower every few days. We don’t flush every time. After a dinner party, I empty my guests’ water glasses into the houseplants. It’s been four years since I lived through[ Cape Town’s water crisis](https://time.com/cape-town-south-africa-water-crisis/), but hard-earned habits die hard. My water conservation routines may sound like too much information, or even borderline unhygienic, but as the threat of water scarcity looms large around the world, they may well be worth adopting. In late 2017, Cape Town was on the brink of becoming the first major global city to run out of water, due to a combination of[ climate change](https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/12/23/1041301/africa-cape-town-drought-water/), drought, and bad water management. To stave off “Day Zero”—the moment when reservoir levels would drop below a critical threshold and household water supplies would be turned off—residents were told to limit use to 13 gallons of water per person per day. (The average American uses[ 82](https://www.epa.gov/watersense/statistics-and-facts).) That was enough for a 90-second shower, a half-gallon of drinking water, one load of hand-washed dishes or laundry, one cooked meal, two hand washings, two teeth brushings, and one toilet flush. Watering plants was out of the question. I know because I was counting down the gallons on our water meter. Fear was a huge motivator—the apocalyptic specter of having to wait in line at public taps for a daily allotment of 8 gallons of water per person once Day Zero hit was enough to drive most residents into immediate compliance. So was shame: households that exceeded their daily allowance were tagged with a red dot on the municipal water authority’s online map. And we all checked it, obsessively. --- ### More from TIME --- Within a month, municipal water usage dropped by 50%, and stayed there. Day Zero never came, and eventually, after seven months of living on 13 gallons of water a day, the rains returned, and reservoir levels rose to a healthy level. And Capetonians have maintained their water-wise ways: recent research conducted by Martine Visser, director of the Environmental Policy Research Unit at the University of Cape Town and shared with TIME, shows that household water consumption is 61% of pre-drought levels. And even though I have since moved to Rome, a relatively water-rich city that runs drinking fountains 24/7, I still can’t take water for granted. I don’t shower in a bucket anymore so I can use the collected water to flush the toilets, but I still have the bucket, just in case. If I don’t have dinner guests, the dog’s day-old water goes to the plants instead. The sound of a dripping tap has the same effect on me as the[ Jaws theme song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BX3bN5YeiQs)—it raises goosebumps. **Read More:** [What It’s Like To Live Through Cape Town’s Massive Water Crisis](https://time.com/cape-town-south-africa-water-crisis/) Cape Town may have been the first major modern city to come within days of running out of water, but it will not be the last. According to the[ United Nations](https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/half-world-face-severe-water-stress-2030-unless-water-use-decoupled) and the[ Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development](https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/environment/oecd-environmental-outlook-to-2030/freshwater%5F9789264040519-12-en), almost half the global population will experience “severe water stress” by 2030 as a result of population growth and climate change. That means less water for food production, prompting the United States to pronounce water scarcity[ a national security issue](https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/water-action-plan%5Ffinal%5Fformatted.pdf) earlier this month. Most recently, California has been feeling the squeeze as the western U.S. experiences its [worst drought](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-western-us-is-experiencing-the-worst-megadrought-in-more-than-1200-years-180979590/) in over 1,000 years. In April, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California declared a “water shortage emergency” following the state’s driest ever start to the year. On June 1, the Department of Water and Power called for a [35% reduction in water use](https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-04-26/mwd-declares-water-emergency-and-restricts-outdoor-watering) in my home town of Los Angeles, implementing draconian—at least for Angelenos addicted to lawns and car washes—water usage limits. The city’s 8 million residents are only allowed to water their lawns twice a week, for a maximum of eight minutes. They are also being asked to keep their showers to under five minutes, which still feels laughingly profligate to me. During the Cape Town drought the city partnered with South Africa’s best musicians to record[ 120-second versions](https://time.com/5027780/climate-change-shower-singing/) of their most popular songs so residents could sing along and get out of the shower in two minutes, without having to rely on a timer. In L.A., you just need to listen to[ Kate Bush](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCWWYlWQdEY) running up that hill. --- **_A version of this story first appeared in the_** **Climate is Everything** **_newsletter. To sign up,_** [**_click here_**](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/newsletters/?newsletter%5Fname=climate&source=onsite)**_._** --- The long-term prognosis for California is not good. Most of the state is suffering severe, extreme, or exceptional drought according to the [U.S. Drought Monitor](https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/); in 2020 climate scientists found that California is in the middle of a “[megadrought](https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aaz9600)” exacerbated by climate change and likely to continue for an indefinite amount of time. Given its high water consumption, Los Angeles could easily face its own “Day Zero,” says[ Jan Kürstein](https://ramboll.com/contact/rdk/jknu), a Danish hydrogeologist who was brought in as a consultant during the Cape Town water crisis. L.A., he says, is already behind the ball when it comes to communicating the gravity of the situation. “In the case of a drought like this, you have to radically lower your water consumption.” Leaving lawns unwatered is not enough, he says, the city has to start thinking about alternative sources, like ground wells, desalinization, and reclaiming sewage. Cape Town didn’t start considering alternatives until it was too late, but California can learn from Cape Town’s mistakes. That may mean embracing the heretofore unthinkable—using treated wastewater for everything from watering lawns to taking showers and yes, even drinking. Namibia’s Windhoek, the world’s driest capital, has been[ recycling its sewage](https://www.veolia.com/en/newsroom/news/drinking-water-recycling-wastewater-windhoek-namibia) into drinking water for 50 years. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power recently announced a[ new initiative](http://www.ladwpintake.com/operation-next-las-next-major-water-source/) to recycle 100% of its wastewater into drinking water by 2035\. It’s a great start, albeit approximately 13 years too late. In the meantime, putting a[ higher price](https://time.com/6182840/water-price-climate-change/) on water could be a good way to start saving it, says Kürstein. That worked up to a point in Cape Town—higher usage was taxed at a higher rate, forcing middle- and lower-class consumers to cut down to cut costs. But the wealthy kept watering their lawns and filling their pools, until the city implemented a total household usage cap, enforced by physical devices that automatically restricted water flow after a certain point. Of course, it’s not just because of a looming shortage that we should be conserving water. Even countries that aren’t at risk of drought should be making an effort. Extracting, purifying, transporting, and heating water uses energy. Water is necessary for the wetlands that sequester carbon, and for the rivers and lakes that sustain biodiversity and [fish populations](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtcZbN0Z08c). Does that mean everyone should start bathing in a bucket? Probably not. But it might not be such a bad idea to remember the old rhyme my mom taught me when California was going through a major drought in the late ‘80s: “If it’s brown, flush it down. If it’s yellow, let it mellow.” Your city might not be at the stage where every drop counts, at least not yet, but if anything, it’s a good reminder that water is too precious to just flush down the toilet. ## Transcript Turn the water on, off immediately. If you just do what you need. Brush your teeth. [ MUSIC ] This bucket is what you're going o use to flush your toilet. As an emergency measure, all residents must decrease their usage to 15 liters per person per day to help avoid desert. [ MUSIC ] I have a rule. Water that comes out of the tap has to be used at least twice. [ MUSIC ] We as a family have started using paper plates, cups, and bowls. [ MUSIC ] And we take the left over water, either from washing our hands, or washing our dishes with biodegradable soap, and we use it to water our plants. Now most of our plants we've already replaced with succulents, so they don't need much water just a little bit. But I still do have an herb garden so I like to keep my basil happy. [ MUSIC ] You wanna wait for the water to heat up, right? Well, we don't wanna waste that good, clean water. [ SOUND ] I take another one of my buckets, and I put it in the big bucket. And I collect the water in the other bucket, and I can use that for cooking or anything else where I need really clean water. [ MUSIC ] If it is time to flush, that's where all the water you've been collecting from your showers, washing your dishes, brushing your teeth. That's when you flush it down the toilet, like this [ SOUND ]. [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] We're on our way to a natural spring in a place called Mulands where we can fill up a big Jerry can full of pure spring water just like everybody else in Cape Town is doing these to stay. [ MUSIC ] It has been very chaotic before. People were panicking. There was kind of a panic and a stampede when people heard there was no water. Water was running out. The police have now stepped in. The authorities are policing the place. I can do without electricity but currently I cannot do without water. What's your favorite water saving tip that you think other people might not know about? What ever I use, I transfer to a bucket that stands on my counter. That water I will give to my plants outside. Shower once a day, less than a minute. You don't need to shower longer than that. Shower with a friend. That also saves water. 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