Extreme weather due to the El Niño weather phenomenon have increasingly been causing water shortages across Colombia and have now hit two of the country’s most important cities, Cali and Medellin.
The most severely hit is Cali where local public service provider Emcali shut down the water supply to numerous neighborhoods in the center, east and north of the city.
According to EmCali, the Cali river that generally provides the city’s potable water has run too dry while water consumption has remained high, partly because of the heatwave that’s causing the drought.
Parts of the city will be without water from 10PM to 4AM in an attempt to adapt demand to the water supply.
According to Emcali, the measure affects some 500,000 locals.
In Medellin, part of the impoverished west of the city has been without water because a lack of rainfall failed to fill the Iguana creek that provides water to the western slums.
The measure affects some 16,000 in Colombia’s second largest city, said public utilities provider EPM.
The public utilities company said that water will be shut down in the west between 10PM to 4AM and from 2PM to 4PM.
According to Water Provision chief Jorge William Ramirez, the city has seen a 40% drop in rainfall compared to other years.
National meteorological authorities have long urged Colombians to use water consciously to avoid that the extreme weather across the country causes more problems than necessary.