Montevideo Running Out of Drinking Water
Due to months of little rain, the supply of drinking water is running low in Uruguay’s capital city of Montevideo. Reservoirs are almost empty – without rain, the drinking water will last only three to four weeks.
A severe drought in Uruguay is increasingly threatening the water supply in the Greater Montevideo area. Mayor Carolina Cosse said the drinking water will last only 20 to 30 days if it doesn’t rain soon.
“This drought has lasted longer than the longest drought in history, and climate change is making it difficult for us,” she said. “Therefore, we propose declaring a state of emergency, so that we all understand the situation we are in, and we all act responsibly in our daily lives.”
Reservoir almost empty Uruguay has had little rain for months. According to the water company, there is still about 6.5 million cubic meters of water in the Paso Severino reservoir – less than ten percent of its capacity of 67 million cubic meters.
On Monday, Montevideo residents protested outside the president’s residence against raising the limits for chlorine and sodium in drinking water. The state water company has started mixing brackish water from the Rio de la Plata with fresh water from the Santa Lucia river, from which Montevideo’s drinking water is sourced. This has made the water taste even more salty for the about 1.3 million people in the Montevideo area.
Mayor Cosse made some suggestions to address the water shortage. These include banning car washing and repairing leaky water pipes. Taxes on bottled water should also be reduced.
