Over the weekend, Uruguay’s key reservoir, which supplies the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area, rose thanks to a much-needed rain amid three years of drought.
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Uruguay: Construction Work to Mitigate Drought, CAF Bank
In a press release on late Saturday, Uruguay’s presidential office said that the water reserve of the Paso Severino Reservoir grew from 3,401,069 cubic meters on Friday to 5,093,007 cubic meters on Saturday, a figure that represents 7.6 percent of its capacity.
However, despite the rise, reservoir water levels continue to be critically low, with the lack of rainfall expected to continue until spring.
The unprecedented three-year drought is the worst ever recorded in the South American country since record-keeping began in the early 20th century, the Uruguayan Institute of Meteorology reported in May.
Antes y despues de la Lluvia��⛈️ #Uruguay���� | Llovió en la cuenca del Rio Santa Lucia Chico y aumento mas de 3 metros el embalce en la Represa de Paso Severino, Florida donde #OSE toma el agua dulce para Montevideo y el área Metropolitana del país.
����Video por G.Balzaretti pic.twitter.com/Ox072Z3Ltv— Meteorología Estación bcp (@Estacion_bcp)
July 15, 2023
On July 12, CAF-Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean signed an agreement with the Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries (MGAP) of Uruguay in order to finance, with US$ 250,000, a series of construction of works to mitigate the impact of drought and water crisis in Uruguay.
On July 6, the Uruguayan Parliament approved the creation of an “Emergency Water Fund” to address the shortage of drinking water, a situation affecting over two million people in a country that has a population of 3.5 million.
On June 19, the government declared a “water emergency” for Montevideo and the metropolitan area, home to more than half of the country’s population, and announced a suspension in taxes on bottled water.
