The headline from The New York Times is quite alarming: “Taps Start to Run Dry in Brazil’s Largest City.” Reading through, it doesn’t get much more comforting.
Sao Paulo, Brazil, is home of the Amazon and one-eighth of the planet’s water supply. Now, the taps are running dry as the city’s largest reservoir system is “near depletion.” Residents of the city are already starting to either go without water for days or rationing it.
Reporting on this issue, Simon Romert writes:
Behind closed doors, the views are grimmer. In a meeting recorded secretly and leaked to the local news media, Paulo Massato, a senior official at São Paulo’s water utility, said that residents might have to be warned to flee because “there’s not enough water, there won’t be water to bathe, to clean” homes.
“We’re witnessing an unprecedented water crisis in one of the world’s great industrial cities,” said Marússia Whately, a water specialist at Instituto Socioambiental, a Brazilian environmental group. “Because of environmental degradation and political cowardice, millions of people in São Paulo are now wondering when the water will run out.”
As a contractor, what do you think about this situation in Brazil? Is it something that could impact how we use water back home? Let us know. We always love to hear thoughts from our readers.