Dry Taps Spread: Highlands Joins Water Crisis Hitting Mauritius

A growing number of communities across Mauritius are being left without running water, and frustration is mounting. After weeks of dry taps in St-Paul and Allée-Brillant, residents of Highlands — a residential area in the central plateau — are now reporting the same problem, adding their voices to a rising wave of public anger. The shortages are being felt acutely at household level. Families are struggling to cook, wash, and maintain basic hygiene without a reliable water supply. In affected neighbourhoods, residents have described going days without water flowing from their taps, forcing them to rely on emergency deliveries or travel to collect water from elsewhere. **A Crisis That Keeps Spreading** The water shortage is not an isolated incident. Mauritius has been grappling with critically low reservoir levels, driven by insufficient rainfall and rising demand. The Central Water Authority (CWA) — the state body responsible for water supply and distribution across the island — has already deployed 35 tanker trucks to serve the worst-affected areas, but demand is outpacing the response. St-Paul, a locality in the Black River district on the western side of the island, was among the first communities to raise the alarm. Allée-Brillant, in the Flacq district on the east coast, followed. Highlands, situated inland on the central plateau near Vacoas-Phoenix, is now the latest flashpoint — suggesting the crisis is no longer confined to one region but is spreading island-wide. **Why Is This Happening?** Mauritius depends heavily on surface water — rivers, lakes, and reservoirs — to meet domestic and industrial needs. When rainfall is below average over an extended period, reservoir levels drop sharply. Authorities have pointed to a prolonged dry spell as the primary cause of the current shortages, though critics argue that ageing infrastructure and water loss through leaks in the CWA network have worsened the situation. **What This Means for Residents** For households without piped water access, the daily reality involves queuing for tanker deliveries, storing water in buckets and drums, and carefully rationing supplies. Businesses, schools, and health facilities in affected zones also face operational disruption. The spreading discontent signals that the CWA and the government will face increasing pressure to offer more than emergency tanker relief — residents and opposition voices are beginning to call for a longer-term structural response to Mauritius's water vulnerability. As of now, no official timeline has been given for when normal supply will be restored to Highlands or the other affected communities. Source: Le Défi Media