An aerial view of Colombia's Regadera Reservoir in Usme, near Bogotá, April 16. Colombia's capital of Bogotá imposed water rations due to a severe drought aggravated by the El Niño. Raul Arboleda/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
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water shortage
South Africans have had to line up for water as the country's largest city, Johannesburg, confronts a collapse of its water system affecting millions of people. Jerome Delay/AP hide caption
Johannesburg's water crisis is the latest blow to South Africa's 'world-class city'
Sandra Martínez Martínez shows the dirty tap water she and her family are using as toilet water at her home in the municipality of Ecatepec, in the State of Mexico, on Sunday. Toya Sarno Jordan for NPR hide caption
A new research study says that maintaining backyard pools, like this one pictured in Los Angeles in August, 2005, are one way that rich city dwellers are over-consuming water. Kevin Winter/Getty Images hide caption
These satellite images from June 15, 2018, (left) and June 15, 2019, show the diminishing size of the Puzhal Lake reservoir in Chennai, India. Copernicus Sentinel-2 Satellite Image/Maxar Technologies via AP hide caption
A large crack cuts through this Mexico City street. Half of the street is lower than the other half, one of many signs this metropolis is sinking. Carrie Kahn/NPR hide caption
People collect drinking water from pipes fed by an underground spring last week in Cape Town. Next month, the city will slash its individual daily water consumption limit to 13.2 gallons, the mayor said, as the city battles its worst drought in a century. Rodger Bosch/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
Mountain tops in Sierra Nevada, normally covered in snow this time of year, are seen nearly barren, near the Sequoia National Park during an aerial survey of the snowpack done by the California Department of Water Resources. Rich Pedroncelli/AP hide caption