Water Scarcity In Brazil

Water is vital to life on Earth, but pollution and scarcity are creating water crises for many countries. According to the World Health Organization, “783 million people worldwide do not have access to clean and safe water…” How can countries meet their population’s water needs in the face of climate change, pollution, poverty, and global water scarcity? A country’s wealth and resources have often dictated their ability to access clean water. With ever growing issues like climate change and pollution, poorer countries are being severely affected by water shortages, but with these problems even wealthier countries are dealing with water scarcity. This research investigates articles that profile recent water crisis issues of pollution and shortage

In 2015, Brazil’s most populous city of São Paulo suffered a major drought. This lead to residents gathering unsafe rainwater that often lead to mosquito-borne dengue. The drought also lead to, “Crimped farm and factory output (that) threatened an ailing economy…” (Stauffer, 2016.) There have also been issues with government accountability as, “…São Paulo’s state government saw it all coming. Six years ago, they warned of a water crisis by this year, 2015, if São Paulo didn’t restore deforested parts of its watershed.” (Osborn, 2015.) Climate scientists believed the drought was caused by not only the cyclical dry season, but also human activities like climate change, deforestation of the Amazon heating up the atmosphere, and rainfall that is usually pumped south from the Amazon being unavailable due to the reduced rainforest. The drought came to an end in São Paulo in 2016 after the water reservoir levels doubled from the rainfall of El Niño. Companies and activists though believe Brazil missed out on opportunities to create real solutions for water problems through, water conservation and improved efficiency. Stauffer says, “Sao Paulo, a metropolitan area of 20 million people, was criticized by U.N. experts for losing 31 percent of its treated water to leaks and theft, compared to an average 16 percent in the United States.” Experts in Brazil believe solutions for water issues could come by tapping ground water and cleaning currently available water. Stauffer writes in her article, “But Barrêto said all these projects likely will be irrelevant in 10 or 15 years without cutting consumption in agriculture, industry and households. He urged more sustainable measures such as reforesting the banks of reservoirs.” As of 2017, Brazil is now racing against the clock to deal with a major drought in the city of Campina Grande in North East Brazil. The city’s reservoir is