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Wednesday, July 30

100 days of water left for megacity São Paulo unless it starts rationing: Water Crisis Gordian Knot, Part 9

A worker steps over the cracked ground of Jaguary dam in Braganca Paulista, 100 km from São Paulo in January 2014. January was the hottest on record in parts of Brazil, and the heat plus a severe drought fanned fears of water shortages, crop damage and higher electricity bills. Reuters

From Wikipedia's article
São Paulo ...is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in both the Americas and in the southern hemisphere, and the world's ninth largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the most populous metropolitan area in Brazil, the second most populous in the Americas and the eighth largest in the world.[2] São Paulo is the capital of the state of São Paulo, Brazil's most populous state. It exerts strong regional influence in commerce, finance, arts and entertainment and a strong international influence.[3][...] The metropolis has the largest economy by GDP in Latin America and Southern Hemisphere

"Sao Paulo state, Sabesp’s controlling shareholder, is going through its worst drought in at least four decades"

Sao Paulo Told to Cut Water or Risk Running Out in 100 Days
By Denyse Godoy Jul 29, 2014 11:03 AM ET

Bloomberg News
Sao Paulo risks having its biggest reservoir run out of drinking water within 100 days unless it starts rationing, Brazilian federal prosecutors warned.

Water utility Sabesp and Sao Paulo Governor Geraldo Alckmin have 10 days to come up with measures to deal with the crisis, according to a statement on the prosecutors’ website. Both may be sued to force them to start rationing if they don’t take appropriate action, it said.

The utility disagreed with the recommendation, it said in an e-mailed statement to Bloomberg News. “That measure would penalize customers and may have the opposite effect,” it said.

Efforts by Sabesp and the population have already reduced demand equivalent to a rationing regime that would allow water for 36 hours, followed by a cut in supply for 72 hours, the company said.
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