Water Service Cuts Now Routine In Sao Paulo, Though Water Company Denies It's Doing Anything
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Now, as scientists debate whether Amazon deforestation is to blame, residents across São Paulo complain of regular shutoffs to their water supply while the state government and the water company deny that rationing is going on. And despite rain in recent days, the water level keeps falling. Cantareira System reservoirs are just a tenth of their normal level. And a full summer’s rainfall — if it should occur in the season beginning next month — will not be enough to refill them.
“The situation is serious and demands the collaboration of all,” São Paulo water company SABESP said in an e-mail. “Recuperation of the level of the reservoirs depends on the intensity of the rains.”
But critics say the state government, which controls the water company, downplayed the crisis because of October’s elections, in which the state’s governor, Geraldo Alckmin, was reelected. Critics say SABESP has failed to keep the population properly informed and introduce enough effective measures to reduce consumption.
“It is not just the lack of water, which is critical, it is also not knowing how to manage the crisis,” said Carlos de Oliveira, of the Brazilian Consumer Defense Institute in São Paulo. The Institute just recently received key maps outlining worst-hit areas – but they did not feature streets, just gradients. “Instead of supplying information, SABESP blames the consumer,” he said.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/taps-run-dry-in-sao-paulo-drought-but-water-company-barely-shrugs/2014/11/17/6fc28680-6cfb-11e4-a31c-77759fc1eacc_story.html