CEILANDIA, Brazil (Reuters) – Diane Pereira had already used up half a large plastic water barrel by 9 a.m. as she cooked rice and beans for the coming lunch crowd as gospel music played quietly in her small, doorless restaurant in Ceilandia, a poor suburb of Brazil’s capital.
Roberto Souza uses a bucket to collect water in an improvised reservoir, on the day of water rationing, in his neighborhood in Brasilia, Brazil March 21, 2018.
REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino In the face of a government-instituted all-day water cutoff on Wednesday, Pereira said she was doing everything she could to economize, including using plastic cups instead of glass and using less water in the food.
If her two barrels run dry, she will have to close up for the day.
This week’s conference, which ends on Friday, comes as Brazil is still dealing with prolonged droughts while panels such as “Water Crisis in Brazil” contend with the question of how people in the country richest in fresh water reserves could go thirsty.
More than 900 of Brazil’s 5,570 municipalities have water emergencies as a result of drought, according to the Ministry of National Integration.
Much of the problem is getting the water where it needs to go, with government officials pointing to strides in delivering water in drought-stricken Brasilia, Sao Paulo and the northeast.
Roberto Souza uses a bucket to collect water in an improvised reservoir, on the day of water rationing, in his neighborhood in Brasilia, Brazil March 21, 2018.
In the Federal District, the main reservoir level is up more than twelve fold thanks largely to new infrastructure and the rotating water rationing every six days will be eliminated this year, Luduvice said.
“The day rationing comes again, I’ll have this routine all in place.”