Brazil declared this Tuesday that the Madeira River, the longest and most important tributary of the Amazon River, is in a “critical situation” due to the drought that is affecting some regions of the largest rainforest on the planet.
The declaration by the National Water Agency (ANA) of Brazil will allow measures to be adopted to prevent and mitigate water shortages in the Madeira River, which has reached its lowest level in half a century.
The Brazilian agency may also establish special rules on water use and the exploitation of reservoirs in the region and authorize providers of basic sanitation services to increase rates to “cover additional costs derived from the scarcity” of water.
With a length of 3,240 kilometers, the Madeira River runs through Brazil, Bolivia and Peru and is one of the main rivers in South America, with a hydrographic basin of 125 million hectares, according to official data.
Its waters are essential for the regions through which it passes, since they provide food to Amazonian communities and allow the existence of plantations on its banks.
It is also an important river transport route, thanks to its more than a thousand navigable kilometers between Porto Velho, capital of the Brazilian state of Rondonia, and the city of Itacoatiara, in the neighboring state of Amazonas, one of the most affected by the drought.
In 2022, the volume transported by the Madeira River reached 6.5 million tons, according to data from the National River Transport Agency (Antaq).
The reduction in flow also forced the suspension last week of the Santo António hydroelectric plant, the fourth largest in Brazil.
The Brazilian Amazon is suffering from an extreme drought that, in addition to making the transportation of goods difficult, has isolated some rural communities that can only be reached by river.
It also caused heavy mortality of fish and dolphins and sparked fires in the biome, which always experiences its lowest rainfall in September and October.
Source: TSF
