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The water crisis in the capital of Uruguay and the metropolitan area, which has been going on for more than two months, raises fears that drinking water will run out in Montevideo in the coming days if it doesn’t rain. The capital constitutes 60% of the country’s population. Water consumption is also affected as Uruguay faces the worst drought in 74 years coupled with a lack of water infrastructure. Experts argue that the Uruguayan State has been slow to act.
Uruguay is facing the most serious water crisis in its history associated with the worst drought in 74 years. This crisis especially affects Montevideo. The capital and the metropolitan area have two major sources of drinking water: the Canelón Grande reservoirwhich contributed some 10 million cubic meters of water, but which was dry, and Paso Severino that is running out of water.
According to reports from the Uruguayan Presidency, in Paso Severino a week ago there were only 1.2 million cubic meters of water left and 80,000 are used per day.
The crisis is caused by low rainfall due to the worst drought in almost a century as a result of climate change. Authorities have had to resort to using water from one of the saltiest parts of the Santa Lucia River, which supplies most of the drinking water for Uruguay.
Earlier this month, the government declared a water emergency, exempting bottled water from taxes and ordering the construction of a new reservoir.
The government is also distributing drinking water to vulnerable groups such as schools, nursing homes and hospitals, said Gerardo Amarilla, undersecretary of the environment ministry in Uruguay.
However, state actions are not enough. Uruguay’s water infrastructure has not been developed since the 1970s. For this reason, in this edition of El Debate we analyze with our guests the emergency measures that the government of Luis Lacalle Pou is taking to mitigate the crisis and the role that the State in the climate emergency.
– Carol Aviaga, former senator and coordinator of the APA (Primary Environmental Care) program of the Ministry of the Environment.
– Raúl Viñas, master’s degree in meteorology, professor of agroclimatology at the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and member of MOVUS (Movement for a Sustainable Uruguay).
