São Paulo water reserves nearly exhausted

The volume of water in the Cantareira water system was seen on Friday (Oct 3) once again to slip, this time from 6.6% to 6.4% of its capacity, and is likely to decrease even further, as no rain is predicted for the upcoming days in the region where the springs feeding the complex are located.

Ever since May, the supply of the 374 cities served in greater São Paulo and part of the state's interior is provided by the so-called technical or dead reserves as this is the volume of water below the level tapped through gravity. This measure came into operation in May 16, when capacity had dropped to 8.2%.

During this period, the supply was reported to expand 18.5%, or 182.5 billion liters. Now, Sabesp—the water utility in charge of São Paulo state—expects to use another 106 million m³ from the second ratio of the technical reserves. According to State Secretary for Sanitation and Water Resources Mauro Arce, this ratio should be depleted on 21 November.

Next Monday (6), Sabesp is expected to submit to the National Water Agency (ANA) the Operation Plan of the Cantareira Reservoir System, which lays down the strategy to be implemented by April next year, and was the condition set by the agency to evaluate the permission to use the second ration of the dead reserves.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira