BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — The Amazon, which holds a fifth of the world’s freshwater, is entering its dry season with many rivers already at critically low levels, forcing governments to take emergency measures to address problems ranging from disrupted shipping to worsening forest fires.
“The Amazon Basin is facing one of the most severe droughts in recent years in 2024, with significant impacts on several Member States,” said a technical note published on Wednesday by the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organizationincluding Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela.
Several rivers in the southwestern Amazon are experiencing the lowest water levels ever recorded for this time of year. Historically, the driest months are August and September, when fires and deforestation peak. So far, the worst-affected countries are Bolivia, Peru and Brazil, ACTO said.
On Monday, Brazil’s federal water agency declared a water shortage in two large basins, Madeira and Purus, which cover an area nearly the size of Mexico. The next day, the state of Acre declared a state of emergency over a looming water shortage in the capital. In June, the neighboring state of Amazonas adopted the same measure in 20 of its 62 municipalities that are usually only accessible by water or air, even in normal times.
These steps were taken more than two months ahead of 2023, when most of the Amazon was facing its worst drought on record, dozens of dead of river dolphins, cities suffocate with smoke for months and thousands of people are isolated that were dependent on water transportation. The measures are being used to increase monitoring, mobilize resources and personnel, and request federal assistance.
The Madeira River, one of the Amazon’s largest tributaries and a key waterway for soybeans and fuel, fell below 3 meters (10 feet) near Porto Velho on July 20, a 2023 record low. Shipping is restricted at night and two of Brazil’s largest hydroelectric dams could shut down production, as happened last year.
In the Amazon city of Envira, nearby rivers have become too shallow to navigate. Local officials have asked elderly and pregnant women to move from riverside communities to the city center, because medical care may not reach them otherwise. Farmers who produce cassava flour cannot get it to market. As a result, the price of the staple food in the Amazon has more than doubled, according to the local government.
Another concern is fire. There were about 25,000 fires from January to the end of July — the highest number for this period in almost two decades. In the Amazon, fires are mostly human-caused and used to manage pastures and clear deforested areas.
In Acre, the drought has already led to water shortages in several areas of the capital, Rio Branco. These communities now rely on water brought in by truck, a problem that also occurred last year. Between the two droughts, 19 of the state’s 22 municipalities were hit by severe flooding.
“It’s two years in a row that we’ve had extreme events,” Julie Messias, Acre’s secretary of the environment, told The Associated Press. “The result is that we’re facing a looming food shortage. First the crops were flooded and now the planting period is very dry.”
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