A scary countdown has begun in Cape Town, South Africa.

There are 4 million residents in the city, but a water shortage has become so stark that it may be without water in less than three months. If that happens, what little water is actually left will be rationed, and Cape Town residents will be limited to six gallons a day.

In a recent blog entry, Warren Tenney, executive director of the Arizona Municipal Water Users Association, wrote about lessons our state can learn from Cape Town.