S. African water crisis worsens

The water crisis in South Africa has worsened, prompting the City of Johannesburg to impose water restrictions on Monday.

As part of the level-two water restrictions, consumers and businesses are urged not to water their gardens between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. and to avoid filling baths and swimming pools.

The city also called on customers to fully load dishwashers and washing machines, re-use bath water and take shorter showers.

This came despite a pledge by the city last week that water restrictions would not be implemented.

The measures were taken because reservoir levels were dropping, city officials said.

The city said it received an urgent notice from water utility Rand Water to start implementing control measures for water use.

If the water crisis continues to worsen, the city will have to implement level-three restrictions which will see water supply cuts at certain periods.

The City of Tshwane (previously called Pretoria) began to implement water restrictions last month. Some other places have run out of water supply and residents there have to be supplied with water by water tanks.

The South African government has set up an inter-ministerial task team to look into the worsening drought situation in the country.

The team will discuss and propose further interventions to the communities mostly affected by the drought.

Three provinces -- the Free State, KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo -- have been declared drought disaster areas.

Meanwhile, the South African Weather Service said no rainfall was expected until at least Thursday.

Weather experts say the drought came as the result of one of the biggest El Nino events ever recorded in the country.

El Nino is a warming of ocean surface temperatures in the eastern and central pacific that occurs every few years. It can bring floods to some regions but in Southern Africa it always bring drought, increases the number of heat wave days and reduces soil moisture. .

Due to the drought, South African farmers have to reduce maize plantation by 3.8 percent, with 2.551 million hectares for 2016, according to the National Crop Estimates Committee.

The South African government has allocated 350 million rand (about 26 million US dollars) to fight the persistent drought.

Water Affairs and Sanitation Minister Nomvula Mokonyane said the country is facing the worst drought since the 1960s as small dams have run completely dry in some areas.

The water crisis reportedly has affected 2.7 million households.

The drought has already led to a reduction in agricultural production.

The maize crop is down from 14.25 million tonnes last year to an estimated 9.84 million tonnes this year, said John Purchase, Chief Executive Officer at the Agricultural Business Chamber.

This means the country may have to import food to avert shortages, he said. Endit