Brazil’s Paraná imposes 90-day state-wide water emergency

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The state government of Paraná has imposed a water emergency throughout the state for 90 days, to minimize the impact of the lack of rainfall and ensure the minimum supply of the population. The decree, signed Thursday (5) by Governor Ratinho Junior, was published in the Official Gazette of Paraná.

The state already had a water restriction in the metropolitan area of its capital Curitiba and the southeast of the state. The measures of the new decree are practically the same as those of the previous one, which authorizes state agencies to deploy personnel and materials, vehicles, and equipment to help in the care of people and the uprooting of animals.

The decree authorizes sanitation companies to ensure public supply, prioritizing the use of water resources for this purpose. This allows the Água e Terra Institute (IAT) to limit the flow granted to other activities to normalize collection.

The companies that provide sanitation services are authorized to make rounds for 24 hours from the interruption to the resumption of supply, with a period of another 24 hours for normalization. These limits may be exceeded in emergencies during maintenance or by force majeure and must be communicated to the population and the control authorities.

The Paraná Meteorological System (Simepar) also indicates below-average precipitation for the rest of the winter until spring, further aggravating the situation that has been ongoing in the state for more than two years.

According to the decree, the measures take into account weather forecasts. They are based on Resolution 77 of the National Water Agency (ANA), which has identified a critical water scarcity situation in the hydrographic basin of Paraná until November 2021.