2014–16 Brazilian drought

The affected states of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, and Espírito Santo are in red

The 2014–16 Brazilian drought is a severe drought affecting the southeast of Brazil including the metropolitan areas of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. In São Paulo, it has been described as the worst drought in 80 years. The city of São Paulo appeared to be affected the most and by the beginning of February many of its residents were subjected to sporadic water cutoffs. Rain at the end of 2015 and in early 2016 brought relief, however, long term problems in water supply remain in São Paulo state.

Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo still being affected by drought in 2016 due to the 2014–16 El Niño event. In these areas the rains are irregular since 2014 and the drought worsened from 2015.

Extent

Smoke wildfires near Coronel Fabriciano, Minas Gerais, in October 2015.

Typically the rainy season starts in November, but lack of rain in the 2014/15 season led to a major shortfall in the water supply in the states of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Minas Gerais. With major reservoirs operating at their lowest capacity (the main reservoir system of Cantareira supplying São Paulo being at only 6% of its capacity in early February) officials at São Paulo warned about extended rationing as water may run out before the next rainy season in November 2015. In response, the water utility of São Paulo, Sabesp, has reduced water pressure in the system. It also started to impose punitive tariffs on users who use more than in previous years. By early February residents had started to recycle and hoard water.

At the beginning of the dry season in early May 2015, the water crisis continued and water reservoirs in the São Paulo area were insufficiently filled. Work was underway to link up various reservoirs to make better use of existing water resources. By October 2015 the Cantareira reservoirs contained 12% of their capacity while the polluted Billings Reservoir had 20%.

With the arrival of the rainy season at the end of 2015, the drought situation improved. In February 2016 torrential downpours caused flooding in São Paulo. Water levels at Cantareira had recovered from 20 percent capacity at the beginning of December to almost 50 percent by mid February 2016. However, Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo still being affected by drought in 2016, and in 5 May the Espírito Santo Government declared a state of emergency across the state as the drought worsened.

There was concern that an unresolved water crisis may impact the 2016 Olympic Games.

Potential causes

The drought situation is not unexpected. São Paulo is experiencing its third consecutive year of diminished rain falls. A drought situation was already experienced in early 2014. Water management is poor, pipes leak, and the infrastructure is old. Past reports by scientists, environmentalists and technical experts were overridden by real estate developers and industrial and agricultural interests. Further, lack of protection of watersheds and reservoirs has polluted water sources and made it difficult to bring usable water to the market. The expansion of deforestation activities into the Amazon basin has been linked to the reduction of rainfall in the south of Brazil. Even if the Amazon's evaporation was enough to generate flying rivers, urban heat islands coupled with a heat wave prevented the arrival of humid air masses that generate rain. In turn, Brazilian regions on the way to the Southeast had an uprise of rain, to the point the Central-West and Southern regions suffered with floods.

Effect on hydroenergy generation

As seventy percent of Brazil’s electricity is generated by hydropower there is concern that a lack of water may also lead to energy rationing in addition to water rationing. Analysts indicate that thermal plants will be filling the energy gap, but the switch will be costly. In response to decreased hydroelectric power, rolling power cuts have been instituted.

Potential solutions

Analysts see the crisis as a relatively short-term stressor but believe that it has the potential to be the "catalyst" to solve specifically São Paulo’s water problems. Short term solutions include drilling more wells and more recycling of water. Long term solutions include the transfer of more water from additional river basins. Thus, a new 15 km connection has been authorized to be built to bring water from the Paraiba do Sul river basin to the Cantareira system. Also, repair of leaking pipes is estimated to save 6% of total municipal water consumption in São Paulo.

See also

• Water management in the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo
• Grande Seca