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SAO PAULO – Even the full operation of the main work done to help the Cantareira system during the dry season could not stop the fall in the storage level of the dams. Although the National Sewage Company of São Paulo (Sabesp) pumps almost as much water as possible thanks to the transposition of the Paraíba do Sul basin, the drought has already placed the biggest source of supply in alert from Greater São Paulo. with less than 40% capacity for the first time since June 2016. Although the drought scenario continues, Sabesp rejects the risk of rationing at least until the second half of 2019.
In the last two months , The Jaguari dam (Paraíba do Sul), an average of 8.1 m³ / s, according to a report from the National Water Agency (ANA), the regulator of resources in country water – the maximum transfer capacity is 8.5 m³ / s. However, the level of Cantareira went from 46.2% on June 1 to 39.7% of the capacity on Monday 30.
The alert status is an automatic device, which becomes effective whenever the limit 40% of the capacity is reached and limits the maximum catch volume from 31 m³ / s to 27 m³ / s.
Below average rainfall has occurred since February, but drought has intensified this month, when it rained, until Monday 30, only 1.2 mm. – compared to an average of 48.7 mm. Although there is rain forecast from Tuesday 31, and throughout this week, the dry climate must remain. This is a "false hope", according to Meteorologist Patrícia Madeira, of Climatempo.
"The month of August is not the rain that fills the tank," she says. "Between Tuesday and Sunday, the volume should be between 50mm and 60mm accumulated, it is a lot of rain (for the season) .It will improve the situation, but then it will fall … From 10 to the end of August, it will rain a lot small. "According to Patricia," in general, precipitation has been below average in the last five years, the only exception being 2017, which was a good year. "
The transposition of the Jaguari dam water at the Atibainha dam, which is part of Cantareira, was one of the main works carried out by the company to avoid a new water crisis, between 2014 and 2014. and 2015, when Sabesp was capturing water from dead volume (deep reserve) and rationing the other. São Lourenço system. The book was inaugurated in March, two years late.
The maximum pumping of transposition began only in June, when the Cantareira were already 16 months old and were receiving less water from tributaries than the historical average. This month, the average flow is 7.4 m³ / s, close to the negative record of 6.4 m³ / s in July 2014 – the historical index of July is 28 m³ / s
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Sabesp argues that the volume of water withdrawn in Cantareira is lower than that recorded in the past and that this reduction has saved 245.8 billion liters of dams. "The average withdrawal of Sabesp is 22.2 m³ / s in July 2018. The maximum allowed by the regulators is 31 m³ / s," says the company. It is a lower average than the new maximum withdrawal determined by ANA (27 m³ / s). "If Sabesp had not adopted this measure, Cantareira would have today 15% capacity, not 40%."
The company points out that there are other maneuvers to be done between the tanks to ensure the supply, but already made a call to the people to reduce consumption, especially in the months when the water inlet in Cantareira is close to the historical minimums. "It is essential that the population always maintain the habits of rational consumption of water, avoiding waste, especially in this time of drought."
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