Fresh Water
Although the rocks beneath the city contained a vast reservoir of fresh water, known as the Trarza Lake, fresh water is running out, owing to the large growth of the city. Engineers have warned it could run out by 2054, since it is not rain-fed, and is therefore non-renewable. The problem is particularly bad in the sandy shanty towns where the majority of the population lives.
Many people already have to buy water, which is expensive compared with the average wage in the city.
Read more about this topic: Nouakchott
Famous quotes containing the words fresh and/or water:
“Ever fresh the broad creation,
A divine improvisation,
From the heart of God proceeds,
A single will, a million deeds.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“But oh, not the hills of Habersham,
And oh, not the valleys of Hall
Avail: I am fain for to water the plain.
Downward, the voices of Duty call—
Downward, to toil and be mixed with the main,
The dry fields burn, and the mills are to turn,
And a myriad flowers mortally yearn,
And the lordly main from beyond the plain
Calls o’er the hills of Habersham,
Calls through the valleys of Hall.”
—Sidney Lanier (1842–1881)