{"id":50373616,"date":"2023-07-11T14:37:41","date_gmt":"2023-07-11T13:37:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dialogochino.net\/?p=373616"},"modified":"2023-08-03T15:29:58","modified_gmt":"2023-08-03T14:29:58","slug":"373616-uruguay-water-crisis-drought-climate-change-and-poor-planning-collide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/373616-uruguay-water-crisis-drought-climate-change-and-poor-planning-collide\/","title":{"rendered":"Uruguay water crisis: Drought, climate change and poor planning collide"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Since May, the tap water received by the 1.7 million inhabitants of Montevideo and its metropolitan area has contained more than double the amount of sodium permitted by local regulations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Authorities have described the situation in the Uruguayan capital as exceptional, but have said this will continue until there is enough rainfall to replenish the stricken Paso Severino reservoir, which supplies 60% of the country\u2019s population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Uruguay is currently experiencing one of its worst water crises ever recorded, following three years of extremely low rainfall that has reduced freshwater reserves to historic lows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To address a dramatic shortfall, the Uruguayan government has resorted to extreme measures, using saltwater from the R\u00edo de La Plata to supplement freshwater supply from the Santa Luc\u00eda River, on which the Paso Severino is located, 75 kilometres north of Montevideo. This has raised levels of sodium and chlorides in the supply, and drawn criticism from experts and figures across the political spectrum, due to the potential health risks of this increased salinity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The official response to the crisis has also been met with demonstrations by citizens and trade unions, while national demand for bottled water has grown significantly, leaving authorities scrambling for viable solutions to ensure drinking water supply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Various experts consulted by Di\u00e1logo Chino said that Uruguay\u2019s water deficit \u2013 the most serious in the last 50 years<\/a> \u2013 is unlikely to be a temporary phenomenon that will be solved by increasing rainfall, with climate change and record-breaking drought the deeper causes of the problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>
Recommended<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/a>\n\n\n\n

In a recent open letter<\/a>, the Uruguayan Association of Limnology (the study of inland waters) reported that problems related to declining freshwater quality and quantity \u201chave increased in frequency and magnitude in the last decade\u201d. The intense drought, associated with the presence of the La Ni\u00f1a<\/a> weather phenomenon since 2020, the association said, \u201cconditioned the collapse of water reserves for human consumption\u201d in the capital city of Montevideo and the metropolitan area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The president of the association, Franco Teixeira de Mello, described drought as exacerbating water problems in terms of quantity, but climate change has done so in terms of quality. He said the situation is not the result of an isolated event: \u201cWe have to be prepared because it is not something circumstantial.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe water crisis is the result of the lack of implementation of environmental policies linked to the care of water courses, and the drought accentuates this problem,\u201d Teixeira de Mello added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to geographer Marcel Achkar of the University of the Republic, Uruguay\u2019s water crisis has been exacerbated not only by climate change, but also by the absence of a land-use plan to protect resources and maximise water production in the Santa Luc\u00eda River basin. \u201cMost of the actions taken in the basin in recent decades \u2013 agricultural, livestock and industrial production \u2013 have led to a decrease in its water yield,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Small<\/div>
Boats on the Santa Luc\u00eda River, on the outskirts of Montevideo, pictured in 2015. In addition to being the Uruguayan capital\u2019s main source of drinking water, the river is a popular location for boating and fishing. (image: Daniel Ferreira-Leites \/ Alamy)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Consumable but not potable\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Paso Severino reservoir has a normal capacity of 67 million cubic metres of water, but by June had reached its lowest ever levels, at only 3.5 million cubic metres, explained Edgardo Ortu\u00f1o, director of the national water utility OSE, and member of the Broad Front, Uruguay\u2019s main opposition party. On 10 July, the government reported<\/a> that the reservoir level had declined to under 1.9 million cubic metres.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Aguas Corrientes treatment plant [which services the entire Montevideo metropolitan area] ran out of sufficient reserves, so we have to take salt water from the R\u00edo de La Plata and supply the population with what the government calls \u2018consumable but not potable water\u2019,\u201d Ortu\u00f1o told Di\u00e1logo Chino in June.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ortu\u00f1o was referring to statements<\/a> by Uruguay\u2019s environment minister, Robert Bouvier, who said in recent weeks that OSE\u2019s supply, which has seen its salinity increase, \u201cis not potable in the perfect definition of potability, but it is drinkable and consumable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bouvier echoed public health minister, Karina Rando, who said<\/a> in May that \u201cthere is no health risk\u201d in consuming tap water, but advised that people with hypertension, kidney or heart problems, and pregnant women to limit their consumption of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In late June, the country\u2019s president, Luis Lacalle Pou, said<\/a> the exceptional salinity levels were likely to continue for a further two months. His government recently authorised a temporary increase in the limits of sodium and chloride levels permitted in water supply, from 200 milligrams per litre to 440 mg\/L for sodium, and 250 mg\/L to 720 mg\/L for chlorides \u2013 levels that have reportedly already been reached and exceeded on several days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Uruguay\u2019s<\/div>
Uruguay\u2019s president Luis Lacalle Pou at a press conference on 19 June, in which he declared a water emergency in Montevideo and its metropolitan area (Image: Presidency of the Republic of Uruguay)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

There have also been increases in the presence of trihalomethanes, a by-product of disinfection processes in tap water treatment. The Ministry of Public Health authorised OSE to increase fivefold the permitted level of these compounds, a move that caused controversy<\/a> due to possible effects on pregnancies that exposure to them has been associated with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similar to the academics consulted by Di\u00e1logo Chino, Ortu\u00f1o also pointed to droughts becoming increasingly frequent, affecting a greater area and lasting longer. \u201cFar from being an exceptional situation, climate variability is here to stay,\u201d he said, adding that a \u201cmedium- and long-term state policy\u201d on water must be promoted to improve the management of Uruguay\u2019s resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ortu\u00f1o said the construction of new reservoirs and infrastructure for drinking water treatment must be addressed urgently, including expediting a proposed dam in Casup\u00e1<\/a>. This project, also located on the Santa Luc\u00eda River, has been on the Uruguayan government\u2019s agenda since 2013 and would allow the damming of an additional 118 million cubic metres of water, at a construction cost of US$100 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Casup\u00e1, said Ortu\u00f1o, is \u201cthe only alternative\u201d for the supply of drinking water and \u201cnot having built it yet has been foolish\u201d. In contrast, he described Neptuno<\/a> \u2013 a proposed plant to collect and treat water from the R\u00edo de La Plata, and a private project promoted by the Lacalle Pou government \u2013 as \u201cthe worst of the alternatives\u201d and an \u201ceconomic pursuit\u201d. While its initial investment would be made by a consortium of private companies, OSE would reportedly have to pay a fixed fee of US$41 million per year for the plant\u2019s operation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daniel Greif, a civil engineer and former director of Uruguay\u2019s first National Water Plan<\/a>, launched in 2010, also criticised the decision of the current national government to go ahead with the Neptuno project instead of prioritising Casup\u00e1, for which there were already abundant studies confirming its effectiveness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have to take salt water from the R\u00edo de La Plata and supply the population with what the government calls \u2018consumable but not potable\u2019 water<\/blockquote>Edgardo Ortu\u00f1o, director of water utility company OSE<\/cite><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNeptuno, which is neither original nor good, and which had already been discarded by OSE technicians in the metropolitan area\u2019s master plan, was a solution that was discarded as complex and costly, because it does not solve the supply problems, increasing production but not storage,\u201d Greif said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Di\u00e1logo Chino sought comment on the water crisis from the Ministry of the Environment, but the ministry replied that the office of the presidency was now the only authorised spokesperson to report on the issue of drinking water in the metropolitan area. The Presidency did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New challenges<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There is one aspect of the water crisis on which all the experts consulted by Di\u00e1logo Chino agreed, summarised by Greif: \u201cThe country should have been more prepared to face a situation like this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Greif, although there are structural problems \u2013 the lack of capacity of OSE to face a drought \u2013 there have also been issues in crisis management, which have led to an unprecedented strain on the country\u2019s water supply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a position echoed by various social organisations, which have led numerous public demonstrations<\/a> over the water crisis, with dozens of people voicing their discontent in the streets of Montevideo since the situation worsened. Some placards during protests have referred to the supply\u2019s increased salinity. Others accused the government of prioritising big businesses\u2019 water use ahead of citizens\u2019 drinking supply, reading \u201cIt\u2019s not drought, it\u2019s looting\u201d or \u201cthe people\u2019s water is not for sale, it is defended\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have to change our way of thinking about water and understand that it is a finite, scarce and expensive resource, and that if we waste less, we will have more<\/blockquote>Raul Vi\u00f1as, Movement for a Sustainable Uruguay (MOVUS)<\/cite><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Raul Vi\u00f1as, a meteorologist and member of the Movement for a Sustainable Uruguay (MOVUS), told Di\u00e1logo Chino that the measures taken by the government in the face of the water crisis \u201cwere not the right ones\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vi\u00f1as sees four priority areas for solving drinking water supply problems: repairing water networks to avoid the huge losses that are being recorded; generating more water reserves from clean areas, by preventing agrochemicals and organic matter from reaching water courses; seeking new sources of fresh water; and better education around water use and conservation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have to change our way of thinking about water and understand that it is a finite, scarce and expensive resource, and that if we waste less, we will have more,\u201d Vi\u00f1as said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For geographer Marcel Achkar, the crisis exposes the need to understand that it is not possible to plan for the climate to behave as it has historically done. Furthermore, he added, the management of water resources must be rethought, to \u201cdesign real plans with medium- and long-term goals, which are not just a set of good intentions.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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