
South Africa has seen a water crisis, with a few narrow Day Zero escapes. However, there are towns and regions that have literally run dry and then have been left high and dry by the media and the national resources.
A multitude of dry towns across the country have prominent signs in place pleading with residents to spend water wisely. The water stress situation is a growing worry as there is no cause or solution that can be put into place to turn the tide.
For now, the dry towns have largely been left to fend for themselves and their plight has been dismissed or ignored. Now Nelson Mandela Bay, a high-profile area is locked in a water crisis.
Further afield across Northern Africa and the Middle East trouble is brewing over our most basic and by far our most essential resource - water.
Rumours are growing of an impending resource war - A Future Water War. These rumours have been given substance by the skirmishes in the Lake Chad Basin. An area that was once a water-rich area for Chad, Niger, Nigeria, and Cameroon but now is hardly able to sustain life. Water is worth fighting for in this region, having water will literally be the deciding factor between life and death.
Moving further north to Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia, a similar scenario is playing out. This time it is not just nomadic tribes fighting over water rights, it is the entire might of countries as we see Egypt pitted against Ethiopia. Ethiopia is damming up the great Nile River and Egypt which is further downriver wants nothing more than to halt the dam project. Water is so precious in these regions that a few centimeters drop in the Nile levels can spell disaster for millions of farmers who rely on this single source of water for their livelihoods.
Water is a precious resource and certainly worth fighting for in parts of the world where the problem of scarcity has been left to run unchecked for countless years. While we still have water, we can turn back from the brink of a water disaster. Save water while you can and together we can make a difference in the national and global water crisis. The keys to our water survival are in your hands.