Mauricio Bártoli
07/26/2021 8:54 PM
Clarín.com
Rural
Updated 07/26/2021 8:54 PM
The Paraná River
would begin to recover its flow only within two months,
according to estimates from the Rosario Stock Exchange, one of the entities that has studied the main source of fresh water for several provinces and the largest commercial channel in the country, which has the steepest downspout in 77 years.
The situation is worrying for the provision of drinking
water and entails
logistics, transportation and industrial costs of
an estimated US $ 315 million, only between March and August of this year.
In this context, the national government declared on Monday a
water emergency for 180 days
(until the end of the year) in the region, through
decree 482/21
that was published in the Official Gazette, and empowers the Chief of Cabinet, Santiago Cafiero to "Delimit the areas affected by the emergency."
It affects the provinces of Formosa, Chaco, Corrientes, Santa Fe, Entre Ríos, Misiones and Buenos Aires.
José Luis Aiello
, doctor in Meteorological Sciences, warned that "the forecast is not at all auspicious in the Paraná-Paraguay and Tiete Paraná area."
The specialist specified that the aforementioned regions go through the so-called
“Dry Period”
, that is, with low rainfall that would only be reversed as of September.
He clarified that "during the dry period, the atmospheric dynamical systems do not have an evident correlation with the Equatorial Pacific, which is in the final Niña stage, which could become neutral as of September."
In a report from the Agro Strategic Guide (GEA / BCR), it was indicated that during the month of June,
the height of the river measured by the hydrometer located in Rosario had a strong decrease
until it reached a relative minimum of -0.03 m , the lowest figure for a month of June in all history.
Although the record showed a partial improvement this month, until reaching 0.18 m on July 7 at 12:00, the record is still
well below the minimum of 2.47 m that should be recorded at the height of Rosario
so that Hidrovía SA, which is in charge of dredging the river, has the obligation to guarantee the 34-foot draft.
Looking ahead to the coming months,
the situation does not present a promising horizon
, since being in the middle of the dry season in the regions where the tributaries of the Paraná are born, the rains are not usually seasonally abundant. Indeed,
according to the projections of the National Water Institute, the river would gradually lose its flow
, and the level in Rosario towards the beginning of September would reach
-0.61 m
.
In dialogue with Clarín, Alfredo Sesé, one of the Rosario Stock Exchange specialists on the subject, warned that “
the core of the problem is the lack of rain in the entire La Plata Basin
. Perhaps the least complicated area is the lower part of the Uruguay River, but the entire basin is still suffering from a lack of rain, in a cycle that has been going on for several years; It is estimated that it is a process that has been going on for 3 or 4 years, although on the Rosario shore it was perceived more harshly last year, although in 2019 it was on the horizon. "
In recent days, the lack of rainfall was attributed different causes, from deforestation to plant crops to the dredging of the Paraná River.
In that sense,
Sesé dismissed that they have to do with any possible mismanagement in the use of the land
, which may have affected the runoff of the waters and has accelerated it.
“These statements - Sesé interpreted - seem to have an intention that does not respond to what is happening:
in reality there is a problem of lack of rain, which is not the first time that it has occurred
.
It already happened in 1944, at the beginning of the 20th century and at other times, because they are cycles.
And blaming a single cause for a phenomenon of this nature is to divert attention and dirty the discussion.
