Mexico City teeters on 'unprecedented' water shortage - Reuters

[TexasTowelie]

Frustrated Mexico City residents have been protesting weeks of water shortages, with officials warning of 'unprecedented' low levels in a main system that supplies millions of people.

[captain queeg]

1. Whatever happened with Johannesburg (I think that was the city in SA?

A few years ago the city ran out of water.

[donte]

2. The city in southern africa that had the severe water shortage was

Capetown.

[captain queeg]

3. So what happened? Seems like they only had one reservoir and it was severly depleted.

As I remember they had no alternative sources.

[donte]

4. Capetown

If you google it there is a lot of detail about it and how it was resolved!

[róisín_dubh]

5. Ironic, for a city that was founded on a lake...

It's a shame, hopefully sorted soon. That's a lot of people impacted.

[Judi Lynn]

6. By all means! What a nightmare. Sure hope they can start making drastic cuts in consumption immediately.

I remember reading in several places that during pre-invasion times, they had a large aqueduct which transported fresh water from the mountains to the heart of the city on the lake. Not ready, yet, to hear what has happened to the ancient marvel, the "Floating Gardens of Xochimilco" there.

[róisín_dubh]

7. You heard correctly.

Because the original lake system had brackish sections, the Mexica not only had to figure out a system (the aqueduct) to get adequate water to the city, they also developed an intricate dike system to prevent flooding of brackish water into the city during the rainy season.

Xochimilco is the only part of the lake that's left, but for how long indeed.