last winter Mountains that shape Bogota’s skyline more than any skyscraper. burned– which is very unusual in a place that is known for its heavy rainfall. But Colombia has little rain. From June 2023– In the spring of this year the mayor Start water rationing—The city and its population of 11 million are divided into nine zones. Each zone will go without water every 10 days. My brother-in-law told me about the plan. But by the time my family and I moved to Colombia this past summer, I had forgotten.
One afternoon, less than two weeks after unpacking the bag, I tried to fill a half-empty water filter bucket in the kitchen with water. But when the faucet is turned on Nothing happened. I went to porterto ask about absence He told me that he had to thank the mayor. Even though we both knew it wasn’t the mayor’s fault.
In Colombia, climate change Coupled with deforestation in the Amazon and El Niño weather patterns. with more violence– has caused A long and punishing drought The San Rafael Reservoir sits above the city and is filled with water collected inland. Paramos––An alpine ecosystem known for its near-constant humidity. in April When to start rationing The reservoir is also there. with capacity less than 20 percent– Natasha Avendaño, general manager of El Acueducto de Bogotá, the organization responsible for the city’s water infrastructure. It recently reported that this August was the driest month in the 55 years since the city began tracking it. Restrictions are unlikely to be lifted any time soon.
In the WhatsApp chat in our community Residents will remind each other when our rations are due nearby. I fill containers and leave them all over the house: a bucket in each bathroom and a large cauldron in the kitchen. I am careful not to exceed what I think we will have to go through. El Acueducto sets a monthly ceiling for households and Fines for those who exceed their limits
Getting millions of people to use less water is a complex dance. But the city followed our collective efforts. by publishing Daily consumption rates and the health of the reservoirs from which we draw water. “You have nothing without water,” Angelica Villarraga, who lives in San Cristobal and makes a living cleaning houses around the city, told me. Avendano said she hopes rations will increase. All such feelings. Not just on days when the faucet is dry. But it also helps residents recognize their dependence on water. and the need to conserve water over a small period of time.
El Acudatto is Happened around a century ago. To guarantee clean and affordable drinking water in growing cities. and currently manages more than 30 percent of the mountain forest reserves surrounding the city. In the past few years The organization has opened nearly a dozen hiking trails in Los Cerros Orientales to provide residents with a connection between these mountains and the waters that fuel their lives. “The reality is that this basic resource is still not enough,” Jhoan Sebastián Mora Pachón, Kilómetro 11 y 12 Quebradas route manager on behalf of El Acueducto, told me. “The more people respect the source of their water, the better. The more likely they are to make small changes in their lives to conserve water,” he added. “When it’s our turn, we have to ration. We’ll cook more simple meals, and we’ll only wash the dishes once at night. It’s good in a way.”
I have spent most of the last 15 years Write about the front line Communities affected by climate change Especially communities with higher tides and stronger storms. forcing people to rethink their way of life– I’ve learned that letting go of things you think you can’t live without is what people really want. One is more willing to do so if they feel that the injustice is shared equally among everyone. in Staten Island in New York City I watched neighbors come together to ask the state to buy and demolish flood-prone homes. On condition that the land be returned to nature, Joseph Tyrone, leader of the buyout movement, said: “Almost everyone has the same level of wealth or lack of wealth” if their home is about to…be demolished so that some developer can build a luxury mansion or condo. They refused to leave. They will be there. rotting there drowned there But they did not leave.” The state finally agreed to the people’s request. Buy and destroy hundreds of houses.the property itself Become part of New York City’s park network–
Rations circulated throughout Bogota. and the frustration that accompanies turbulence. There is also sharing. And if it is not considered true unity Sandra Milena Vargas, who works as a babysitter in my neighborhood, told me, “We wake up early, we take our last showers, just like you.” No matter who hires us, Help or work as a domestic worker Every household revolves around water in the same way.
Environmental good is often framed in terms of personal sacrifice, such as less air travel. Eating a meat-free diet Turning off the heat Water allocation in Bogota differs in one important respect. That is the decision of a central institution to ensure the health and well-being of the entire city. A place where everyone They can also be turned to during times of crisis, such as schools and hospitals. There’s water no matter what. This is to help keep the most vulnerable residents safe, but otherwise everyone is forced to make shared sacrifices. “It’s something we’re used to and even expect,” Daniel Osorio, whose family has owned the coffee shop Unión Libre in the city’s Úsaquen neighborhood for more than nine years, told me. “We bring in 5-gallon jugs to run the espresso machine, you adjust,” he said.
These sacrifices come at a cost. “As time passes You lose confidence in the functioning of the city,” Osorio said. “That’s a real shame.” But what if periodic water rationing wasn’t carried out only when wells ran dry? In the future that the world is facing Preparation can mean anticipating the inevitable shortages. Instead of promising it won’t happen Imagine that the government designated a waterless day every four months as a fire drill. But for drought Periodic compliance with utility restrictions. It may be a preventive measure. It is a guide to preparing for and living on our climate-changing planet.
I’ve been thinking about this because over the past few months, I watched the city of Valencia, Spain, be flooded in one day by nearly a year’s worth of rain. The Central Highlands of the United States and much of southern Texas have entered drought conditions. and residents throughout the Southeast following back-to-back hurricanes. No amount of preparation would allow the French Broad River in North Carolina to change its direct course through the heart of Asheville. But people living in communities without power, cell service, and potable water weeks later may have a more redundant system—more water tanks scattered throughout their homes. There are more generators. More solar-powered cell phone service extenders—and more muscle memory. to move through them If training rations forced them to practice
This type of adaptive working can also teach people to deal with change. Flexibility is a muscle. That requires regular exercise to keep from atrophying. And perhaps most importantly, when neighbors remove the small distractions of daily life together, in many cases they develop information-sharing networks, like WhatsApp chats, in our communities. So that when a hurricane hits or a heat wave breaks down the tables, they are already of type. A communications hub and community organization that survives through dramatic change. easier–
We can learn to be flexible in the face of change and it is one of our jobs. Our institutions of governance are what teach us how.– in July California enforces permanent water restrictions on cities It is an effort to respond to a local drought that is expected to worsen in the coming decades. In places where intense heat regularly covers the grid The municipality may take action. “Firefighting practice” on days when there is no electricity In the Northeast, where ice storms are increasing It might make more sense to cut off the gas every once in a while. Periodic allocation of resources will prepare us for a future that is sure to have more days without water, electricity, or heat than today. The only certainty is that what we depend on can no longer be relied upon. What is better than training to resist external shocks?
