The largest artificial lake that provides drinking water to the residents of Uruguay’s capital has dried up to almost nothing.
Uruguay in South America is suffering from an exceptional drought, which is already threatening the residents’ access to drinking water.
According to the authorities, the water shortage is the worst in 74 years. More than half of Uruguay’s residents get their water from the Paso Severino basin, where water is only ten percent of capacity.
The Canelón Grande reservoir, essential for the water supply of Montevideo, the capital city of more than 1.3 million inhabitants, has dried up to almost nothing.
There is so little water left that people can walk across the artificial lake.
The water in the pool has been reduced to enough for only ten days, unless it rains soon. The quality of the still available water has deteriorated, and some residents no longer trust the tap water.
– According to the news, water is starting to be brought from the La Plata river. The water we drink is too salty, but there is nothing else available, says an entrepreneur living in the area Luis Rodriguez news agency Reuters.
– People drink a lot of bottled water. I have a shop and we sell a lot of bottled water, he continues.
The drought is caused by exceptionally high temperatures and less rain than usual. Elsewhere in South America, for example Argentina, suffers from drought.
According to meteorologists, it should rain at least 50 millimeters every day until June, so that the situation in the artificial lakes starts to improve.
Uruguay’s drought came up on Monday at the Elokapina demonstration at UPM’s Kymi pulp and paper mill in Kuusankoski, Kouvola.
The Elokapina demands that UPM take responsibility in drought-stricken Uruguay, where UPM’s new pulp mill has been started.
Source: Reuters