Dry and mild conditions are in store for much of Brazil, as well as areas along the Pacific coast this winter.
Dryness to bring drought concerns to Brazil While winter is typically the driest time of the year for Brazil, much of the country will be drier than normal this season, including some of the country’s croplands.
The dryness will result in a growing drought concern, especially in some of the southeastern areas.
Mato Grosso is one of Brazil’s largest corn-producing states, and the worsening drought could cause this winter’s harvest to be up to 15 percent below normal, according to Reuters.
Meanwhile, far southern areas, including the state of Rio Grande do Sul, will have occasional rainy spells as fronts move in from the south.
Rainy spells to cause localized flooding from Colombia to Uruguay While much of the season will be dry across Brazil, spells of wet weather will dampen areas around around Colombia and Venezuela.
Early-season rain could impact the construction of Colombia’s Ituango dam, the country’s largest dam project.
“[This area] will experience frequent fronts and near- to above-normal rainfall,” Nicholls said.
Warm, dry weather to dominate across Chile, central Argentina A warm and dry pattern is set to unfold along the Pacific coast from Peru through much of Chile and into central Argentina.
“A steady parade of storms will lead to frequent [rainfall] across southern portions of Chile and Argentina,“ Nicholls said.

Brazilian Army logistics battalions in the state of Rio Grande do Sul supply populations suffering from drought in the far south of Brazil.
Operations from the Brazilian Army (EB, in Portuguese) are vital to thousands of residents in cities suffering the effects of the worst drought in recent years in southern Brazil’s Rio Grande do Sul state.
The battalion is one of the arms EB extends since February 2018 to assist the state’s Civil Defense agency in mitigating the problems the drought created.
We then did some ground reconnaissance on Monday, and, by Tuesday, our troops were already headed there, trucking water by road to cater to families,” Lt. Col. Jetson explained.
The 4th BLog operated from February until March 27th, bringing water to residents in nearly 20 rural parts of Caçapava do Sul.
They filled up the battalion’s two water trucks—one with an 18,000-liter capacity and the other holding 15,000 liters of water—at reservoirs of the Rio Grande Sanitation Company supplied.
Authorities conduct the rationing12 hours a day, but EB’s helping hand is present throughout the region.
“Whenever there’s a crisis, such as with water scarcity, we have prior authorization to act,” Maj. Gen. Vendramin explained, adding that the force also operates in floods.
Maj. Gen. Vendramin said EB’s water trucks cover up to 60 kilometers in one day.
That’s why this service agency is essential.

Brazilian Army logistics battalions in the state of Rio Grande do Sul supply populations suffering from drought in the far south of Brazil.
Operations from the Brazilian Army (EB, in Portuguese) are vital to thousands of residents in cities suffering the effects of the worst drought in recent years in southern Brazil’s Rio Grande do Sul state.
The battalion is one of the arms EB extends since February 2018 to assist the state’s Civil Defense agency in mitigating the problems the drought created.
We then did some ground reconnaissance on Monday, and, by Tuesday, our troops were already headed there, trucking water by road to cater to families,” Lt. Col. Jetson explained.
The 4th BLog operated from February until March 27th, bringing water to residents in nearly 20 rural parts of Caçapava do Sul.
They filled up the battalion’s two water trucks—one with an 18,000-liter capacity and the other holding 15,000 liters of water—at reservoirs of the Rio Grande Sanitation Company supplied.
Authorities conduct the rationing12 hours a day, but EB’s helping hand is present throughout the region.
“Whenever there’s a crisis, such as with water scarcity, we have prior authorization to act,” Maj. Gen. Vendramin explained, adding that the force also operates in floods.
Maj. Gen. Vendramin said EB’s water trucks cover up to 60 kilometers in one day.
That’s why this service agency is essential.

Since the beginning of 2018, there has been a significant reduction in availability and access to water due to a deficit caused by a lack of rain, which has been further affected by the La Niña phenomenon in the South American region.
The most affected departments in the country are Tacuarembó, Salto, Durazno and certain areas of Artigas, Paysandú, Rivera and Río Negro.
In some areas, there is a considerable reduction in the levels of water in wells and dams, affecting the availability of water in the affected departments.
In total, 95 per cent of the national population has potable water supply and access to it through water pipes, while the other 5 per cent use dams and storage tanks; this latter group of families have been directly affected by the water deficit, and the lack of water has considerably reduced available areas for growing crops and raising livestock, which has affected families’ food supply…According to SINAE’s forecasts issued on 6 March 2018, this drought could go on for two or three more months; although it could also last beyond the middle of the year.
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Uruguay will lose US$500 million as a consequence of the drought affecting the region for a few months, the South American country’s rural producers said Monday after a round-table conference with the senators and opposition deputies.
Eduardo Blasina, the agronomist, said the producers need adequate resources to overcome the drought affecting the region.
Blasina also accused Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez of turning a deaf ear to farmers’ issues.
"The government lists a number of measures to say ‘look what we have done and still you ask us for more’ but the issue is not the number of measures but the impact they have," Blasina said according to local newspaper El Litoral.
The government has initiated the Agricultural Emergency Fund (FAE), which provides no-interest loans to family farmers, with no more than 500 hectares (1,235.5 acres) of land.
The FAE loans can only be obtained through the campesino organizations and only by individuals who don’t have an impending balance to pay, stemming from past loans.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock Farming and Fishing said the loans will benefit around 2,200 livestock and dairy operations.
The government will also provide soy feed for the livestock.
In the absence of rain, the government must use "every tool" at its disposal to address the shortage of water, Agriculture Minister Enzo Benech said.
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Cape Town – Water use is growing at twice the rate of population growth, and, if this trend is not reversed, two-thirds of the global population will face water stress by 2025.
This is according to Dr Isabel Bortagaray, a Human Science Research Council (HSRC) research fellow, who presented a video conference seminar in Cape on Tuesday on “An Innovation-based, Sustainable and Inclusive Water Policy Research Agenda: Questions from the Uruguayan Case”.
Bortagaray is based at the Institute for Sustainable Development, Innovation and Social Inclusion at the University of the Republic, Uruguay.
She said water security was of concern world over and constitutes one of the main global risks in its impact on development in general and on the achievement of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) in particular.
Bortagarey said the complexity and uncertainty related to water and climate change, and the pervasiveness of water throughout the different SDGs, calls for a policy in which innovation is prioritised.
She said innovation was required not only because water services were still missing large groups of the population, but because water quality and water management imposed technological and institutional challenges.
Bortagaray said water use was growing at twice the rate of the population growth.
Bortagaray said the agro-industrial sector accounted for 78% of all exported goods in 2016 and currently produces food for 28million people.
She said irrigation was responsible for the bulk of water use in Uruguay, accounting for 84%.
Uruguay’s water policy includes access to drinking water and sanitation as fundamental human rights, prioritised use of water for human consumption, sustainable management of hydrographic basins, and citizen participation in the planning, management and control of water.