There is little prospect of rain any time soon and, as we reported on Tuesday, the scene is now set for the Port Elizabeth area to record its fourth driest year on record.
Though some good rain did fall in September, partially alleviating the water crisis, it was still not nearly enough to make a significant impact on the figures.
SA Weather Service spokesperson Garth Sampson says if good rain does not fall by December 31, we’ll have had the fourth lowest annual rainfall on record, with just 411mm.
When you consider that two of our driest years since the recording of rainfall began in 1950 were as recent as 2010 (402mm) and 2008 (401.2mm), it is clear we have to start accepting that our weather is indeed changing.
With these shifts, specifically the prospect of less and less rainfall in the coming years, must surely also come the realisation – starting immediately – that we will have to make a much greater effort to use less water.
When Cape Town was at the height of its water crisis at the beginning of 2018, we saw an incredible effort on the part of Capetonians to avoid “day zero” at all costs.
But many visitors from around the globe also did their part while in the mother city, keeping shower time to a minimum and using water far more mindfully than they probably ever did at home.
This sort of consciousness borne from crisis does not simply disappear and many Capetonians will tell you that being judicious with water is now very much part of their mindset, especially since they don’t know when the next shortage will hit.
It will only get hotter in the Bay over the coming weeks, which will see water consumption rise, and the holidaymakers we have at this time of year will also have an impact.
The Bay is not alone in this situation as several Eastern Cape towns have been known to have a precarious water supply over Christmas and New Year.
If you do have visitors staying over, be an example to them while also urging them daily to use water sparingly for everyone’s sake.
And, looking ahead to the coming year, let us vow to find tangible new ways to save water in our homes, gardens and businesses.