Brazilian authorities Monday decreed a “state of water shortage” in the basins of five major rivers nationwide. The critical situation affects some 2,264 million km², it was explained. It was the first time in over 100 gauging these water levels that such an extreme measure has been adopted.
Brazilian World Cup host city Manaus has declared a state of emergency as the waters of an Amazon River tributary swell, although officials say they do not expect it to flood.
The administration of President Dilma Rousseff is working on the creation of a new agency which will be responsible for Brazil’s fluvial ports and terminals, waterways and locks. The ‘Hidrobras’ project is being drafted by the Ministries of Transport and Planning and will look after shipping in the fluvial system, “which is currently exploited far below its possibilities and potential”.
Brazil will boost its military presence in the Amazon region to protect its huge natural resources from any external threat, Defence Minister Celso Amorim told the Senate on Thursday.
Brazilian scientists say they have found signs of a huge underground river flowing far beneath the Amazon River, reports O Estado de Sao Paulo.
A severe drought has dropped water levels on a major Amazon tributary to their lowest point since Brazilian officials began keeping records more than a century ago, the government reported Monday, cutting off dozens of communities who depend on the river for work and transportation.