The drought was officially completed during the last quarter of 2023, as confirmed today by the Uruguayan Institute of Meteorology (Inumet), describing the climate phenomenon, which left significant losses in the country, as “the most important in more than 100 years.”
In this way, the weather conditions are aligned with the Uruguayan economy, that is beginning to leave behind the effects of that shock, which generated a sharp drop in the GDP, the declaration of the agricultural emergency which was raised two weeks ago and one water crisis which led to a water emergency unprecedented in Montevideo and surroundings.
The Inumet declared this afternoon the end of the 2020-2023 meteorological drought, based on the Standardized Precipitation Index (IPE), which in the period between last October and December showed “conditions within normal” for the first time since the second quarter of 2020,
The organization indicated that between January 2020 and last December, Uruguay was under conditions of drought in 28 of 45 months, which is equivalent to 62% of the total, within which it had the longest period between April 2022 and September 2023, with 17 consecutive months in these conditions.
In this regard, the director of Meteorology and Climate of Inumet, Nestor Santayana, echoed the “most important period of drought that Uruguay in more than 100 years” and referred to the concept of “resilience”, arguing: “It left us many lessons that we must learn as a society, beyond the responsibility that decision makers (public and private) will have in the future.”
Two emergencies and million-dollar losses, the impact of the drought
The drought had a deep impact on the economy and, according to data from the Office of Agricultural Programming and Policy (Opypa), caused losses of 1,883 million pesos between 2022 and 2023 in the agricultural activity, which was reflected in the decrease in GDP.
Due to the climate phenomenon, an agricultural emergency was decreed, which was in effect between October 2022 and December 2023, until at the beginning of this year the Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries (MGAP) decided to lift it, with the exception of two items, fruit and vegetable crops.
To complications in agro, was added water crisis, which strongly raised the salinity of the water SBI and put in check the reserves of Severino Pass, Therefore, the government also had to decree a water emergency, with different measures aimed at alleviating the effects of the drought in the normal supply.
Could there be a new drought this year?
Beyond the Inumet statement, the MGAP warned that in the middle of the year there could be a new drought, due to the phenomenon of The girl. He even did not rule out having to declare a declaration again. agricultural emergency.
The director of Decentralization of the MGAP, Luis María Carresse, He told Radio Uruguay that “there are already some forecasts of a possibility of the return of La Niña in the middle of this year, so we could fall into a drought again.”
“This one may not be nearly as big, but we still have the scars,” Carresse admitted, anticipating that possibility.
Source: Ambito
