Bogotá brings in water rationing with El Niño weather phenomenon meaning city could run out in under two months

Couples in Bogotá are being asked to shower together as water supplies are rationed in the Colombian capital.

Major neighbourhoods were cut off from the water grid on Thursday to preserve dangerously low water levels at reservoirs that have been starved of rain by the weather phenomenon known as El Niño.

As well as recommending that those in a relationship get under the showerhead together, the mayor of Bogotá, Carlos Fernando Galán, asked residents to consider abandoning their daily hygiene practices entirely given the reservoirs were at “historic lows”.

  • Diplomjodler@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    Now let me guess: half the water is lost due to an under maintained grid? And 90% of all water is being used by ecologically unsustainable farming practices, that only benefit a small group of oligarchs? I don’t know that the actual situation in Colombia is like but these are the real causes of most water shortages.

  • Carrolade@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    Uhm … asking couples to shower together will probably not result in lower water usage.

  • FauxPseudo @lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    I’m having flashbacks from living in California and I know that Australian readers will also recognize that this is not the first time this has happened

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldB
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    7 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    As well as recommending that those in a relationship get under the showerhead together, the mayor of Bogotá, Carlos Fernando Galán, asked residents to consider abandoning their daily hygiene practices entirely given the reservoirs were at “historic lows”.

    “If you are not going to leave your house on Sunday or any other day of the week, take advantage of it and do not take a bath,” he pleaded ahead of the water cuts.

    Still the abnormally long hot and dry spells have caused wildfires to rage in the forests surrounding the capital – choking some neighbourhoods with smoke – and now the reservoirs which some 10 million people rely on are at “critical” levels.

    To prevent a disaster local officials have divided Bogotá into nine zones, each of which will be cut off from the water grid for 24 hours on rotation.

    “Let’s not waste a drop of water in Bogotá at this time,” Galán told reporters this week.

    Mexico City has also been rationing water supplies in the past month and Guatemala declared an emergency on Wednesday as it struggles to tame wildfires.


    The original article contains 450 words, the summary contains 184 words. Saved 59%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!