The National Director of Water commented that the country has other preparations to face a drought.
Two years ago Uruguay lived one of the worst droughts in its history and the consequences for the agricultural sector were fatal, which caused the government to prepare a series of measures to prevent future environmental fatalities that could hit the country.
He Ministry of Environment is weighing the possibility of a new storm The Girl hit Uruguay and, with it, again the drought. Therefore, the alternative of using underground water reserves is being evaluated starting in September, which is the time when the climatic phenomenon is expected to occur.
However, according to the forecasts of the National Emergency System (Sinae), The probability of a situation similar to that of the 2019-2023 period occurring is expected to be much lower and is between 30 and 50%. In this regard, the National Director of Waters of the Ministry of the Environment, Louis Anastasiawarned that if drought were to occur, the effects would not be as serious.
The importance of anticipating the phenomenon
In this regard, Anastasía said that the ministry formed a structural working group where it was possible to define what to do at each moment of the drought, if it occurs. This has the objective of anticipating possible situations that would become untreatable if they are not addressed in time, as was the case with the last drought.
“Even if a new drought lasting three years comes, we are in better condition and better prepared than in the situation we recently went through,” said the head of the Environment Ministry in an interview with Radio Carve.
Previously, the Undersecretary Gerardo Amarilla, He commented that the portfolio and other related institutions are waiting for another climatic phenomenon to occur again that complicates the production and access to water in the Uruguay. “We are monitoring the situation, knowing that after winter there will be a period of lack of rainfall that could turn into water stress and perhaps a drought. We must be prepared for that,” said the official.
With this, Amarilla commented that the portfolio is updating the information on the amount of groundwater reserves that are in the country. In this way, in the event of a drought, they could draw on existing reserves.
“We have reserves. The idea is to have more information and more research to be able to know how much and how we can use it,” he explained.
The hierarch recalled the drought that had to go through the Uruguay a year ago and said the lesson was learned. “Let’s hope that the drought “We hope that the crisis will not be as serious as the one we had a year ago, which was caused by a three-year process of rainfall deficit,” he said, adding: “Having learned the lesson from what we went through, being better prepared for what is to come is the objective of the Ministry of the Environment.”
Source: Ambito
