The city of Bogota is in crisis after a crippling weather event forced it to take extreme measures to preserve water.

Around 10 million people living in Bogota have been told they have to ration their water usage because of a severe drought which has struck the Colombian city.

The drought has been blamed on the El Nino weather phenomenon that has levels in the local reservoir to fall to their lowest levels in decades. In response, officials have split the city into nine zones with each zone taking turns to switch off their water for 24 hours at a time.

There are some exemptions for some types of buildings such as schools and hospitals which don’t have to turn off their water after restrictions were brought in on Thursday.

According to reports officials will reassess the situation every two weeks and hope to remove the restrictions as soon as possible.

The BBC reported that Mayor Carlos Fernando Galan told a press conference: “Let’s not waste a drop of water in Bogota at this time. That will help us so that these restrictions can be lifted more quickly or reduced.”

Mr Galan added: “If you are not going to leave your house on Sunday or any other day of the week, take advantage of it and do not take a bath.”

The situation is so bad that the Chuza reservoir supplies around 70 percent of Bogota’s water is only at 17 percent, the lowest point in around four decades.

As well as shutting off the water supply in the nine zones for 24 hours at a time, local residents are also being encouraged to save as much as possible.

This means taking short showers and, for those in couples, taking showers together. Mayor Galan explained: “This is just a teaching exercise, about saving water. That’s all it is.”

The Telegraph reported that the water cuts will impact businesses that will not be able to open if they are in a zone with its water turned off. Furthermore, the latest El Nino event comes at a time when warmer and drier weather is becoming more common.

On what El Nino is, the Met Office said: “The name ‘El Niño’ is widely used to describe the warming of sea surface temperature that occurs every few years, typically concentrated in the central-east equatorial Pacific.

“An El Niño is declared when sea temperatures in the tropical eastern Pacific rise 0.5C above the long-term average. El Niño is felt strongly in the tropical eastern Pacific with warmer than average weather. The effects of El Niño often peak during December.”