Uruguay’s President, Luis Lacalle Pou, declared a “water emergency” for Montevideo and the metropolitan area in response to the unprecedented lack of rainfall and freshwater reserves.
In addition, Lacalle Pou announced tax exemptions for bottled water and the start of construction on a dam that will provide a new potable water source within about 30 days.
“Given this tax exemption, we presume the price should decrease. Without the taxes charged, there should be a significant decrease,” he stated.
The President led a nearly four-hour meeting at the government headquarters, Torre Ejecutiva, to discuss the issue with the Ministers of Economy, Defense, and Environment and the authorities of the state company OSE, responsible for distributing drinking water.
“All the measures taken are based on the absence of rain. We are not talking about a week or fifteen days. The forecast indicates no rainfall, which is our starting point for analysis,” he assured during a press conference this evening.
The declaration of a water emergency “enables quicker and simpler legal processes,” he detailed.
In addition, water distribution continues to hospitals, schools, and other state institutions, with free water supply measures in place for vulnerable populations.
Lacalle Pou confirmed that approximately 20 million dollars will be invested in constructing a dam on the San José River to provide “an additional source of drinking water.”
“Water supply will not be cut off. Therefore, the situation could result in a decline in water quality,” the President stated when asked about the worst-case scenario for this crisis.
The drought Uruguay has been experiencing for the past three years is “unprecedented” and “the worst since records began in the South American country at the beginning of the 20th century,” reported the Uruguayan Institute of Meteorology (Inumet) in May.
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