Beyond ‘Day Zero’: insights and lessons from Cape Town (South Africa)

Acute water security vulnerability at regional to local scales is becoming increasingly apparent. In 2017, officials in Cape Town, South Africa, designated the term “Day Zero” to demark an exact time when the city’s taps would be switched off due to critically low reservoir levels. Beyond Day Zero, residents would need to converge at communal water collection points to access a 25-L daily ration of water. The particulars of the crisis and stakeholder responses prove informative to other cities.