Pools and gardens of wealthy residents are fueling water crises Smart news

Population growth and human-caused climate change are driving water scarcity around the world. But a new study suggests there may be another, often overlooked, driver: socioeconomic inequality.

Wealthy city dwellers use a disproportionate share of water compared to lower-income individuals, according to a new study published in the journal. The sustainability of nature. And, often, these so-called urban elites use water for non-essential purposes, such as filling swimming pools, watering gardens and washing their cars.

The findings show the close links between social, economic and environmental inequality, says the co-author Hannah Clokea hydrologist at the University of Reading in England, in a STATEMENT. Ultimately, everyone will suffer the consequences if we don’t develop fairer ways to share water in cities.

Within the last 20 years alone, more than 80 cities worldwide have faced water shortages, largely attributed to drought and increased consumption. But the researchers were curious whether social inequality also played a role in those scenarios and, if so, how much.

They decided to focus their study on Cape Town, South Africa, because of the country’s massive income gap: About 10 percent of its residents hold 80 percent of its wealth, making South Africa the country most unequal on the planet, according to one World Bank Report 2022. And, from 2015 to 2018, Cape Town experienced a severe water crisis and narrowly avoided a Day Zero scenario, in which the city would essentially run out of water.

After analyzing water consumption across Cape Town’s different income groups, they found that the city’s wealthiest residents used approx. 51 percent of its water, despite representing only 14 percent of the population. While affluent residents were using most of their bulk water for non-basic needs such as swimming pools and gardens, low- and lower-middle-income city dwellers were using their relatively smaller share. for necessities such as washing, cooking, laundry and drinking water. .

Furthermore, wealthier Cape Town residents were also accessing other private water sources, above and beyond what they used from the public water supply. During the water crisis, this made them more resilient to drought and the government-imposed water restrictions that went along with it compared to their lower-income peers. When public water restrictions came into effect, Cape Town’s urban elites simply drank bottled water, installed rainwater harvesting systems, or drilled wells to access groundwater.

Water scarcity is only set to worsen amid droughts and overuse, and the authors argue that policymakers should consider the paper’s findings as they think about strategies to deal with future water crises. Policies that raise water rates, impose fines or restrict use in an effort to curb demand can only deepen existing inequalities, they say. And other proposals, such as building new dams to increase supply, could bypass the root cause of the crisis, which is uneven consumption, as co-author Elisa Savellia researcher at Sweden’s Uppsala University, says Washington Posts Victoria Bisset

Although the paper focused specifically on Cape Town, the authors say their methodology can be applied to any city around the world. The study’s connections probably won’t come as a surprise to residents of cities like Los Angeles, where celebrities like Dwayne Wade, Sylvester Stallone and Kim Kardashian made headlines last year for using excessive amount of waterduring a severe drought.

We must put justice and equality at the heart of this,Mariana Mazzucatoan economist at University College London who was not involved in the study, saysGuardians Damian Carrington. It is not just a technological or financial problem.