"Humanity is facing a growing challenge of too much water in some places and not enough water in others. This is being driven not just by climate change, but by population and economic growth and poor water management, experts warn.

'Water scarcity and flood problems are primarily due to quick growth, increasing vulnerability, and insufficient preparation,' says Arjen Hoekstra, a professor of water management at the University of Twente in the Netherlands. 'Climate change, however, is and will worsen the situation in most cases.' "

"The World Bank and the U.N. are sounding the alarm over a global water crisis. A joint report released Wednesday says that 40 percent of the world's population is affected by water scarcity."

"Weeks ago, local authorities were predicting that “Day Zero” in Cape Town was going to arrive in late April, and that people will have to start procuring water from one of the 200 collection points throughout the city.

Now, after three postponements, the city calculates that it will reach that crisis point on July 9.

At that point, the remaining water will go to hospitals and certain settlements that depend on communal faucets. Most people in the city will run out of tap water for drinking, bathing or other uses.

In this way, Cape Town could be just the first of many other cities that could have no access to clean water."

"Water scarcity is different from disasters like hurricanes or earthquakes because it gives us an unprecedented degree of lead-time for preparation. So why aren't we taking advantage of that? Human psychology makes us apathetic about mitigating risks that we (incorrectly) think won't affect us. As far as recipes for disaster go, this combination is a doozy. We simply can't wait until a water crisis becomes an immediate threat."

"Nobody really knows, because no city of Cape Town’s size has ever had to deal with a crisis of this magnitude. Water shortages are a familiar challenge for large cities in India, Indonesia, Mexico, and Brazil: São Paulo, a city of 12 million people, came within 20 days of a complete shutoff in 2015, but was saved in the nick of time by rains. Even that close call led to the looting of emergency water trucks. In the Middle East, home to some of the world’s most water-poor countries, growing populations, overexploitation of resources, and mismanagement by authorities have led to similar crises: Conflict over scarce water resources is already a fact of life in war-torn Yemen."

"Sparsely populated, low-income communities across the country suffer from polluted water—an injustice expected to worsen under Trump."

"In Cape Town, South Africa, they're calling it "Day Zero" -- the day when the taps run dry.

City officials had recently said that day would come on April 22. They have since moved up the date to April 12.

Cape Town is South Africa's second-largest city and a top international tourist draw. Now, residents play a new and delicate game of water math each day.

They're recycling bath water to help flush toilets. They're being told to limit showers to 90 seconds. And hand sanitizer, once somewhat of an afterthought, is now a big seller.