Brazil
The port of Manaus is recording its lowest water level since 1902, leaving boats stranded and unable to deliver food and water to remote villages
Portal in Manaus
Monday 16 Oct 2023 6.38pm BST
Water levels at a major river port in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest have reached their lowest level in at least 121 years, as a historic drought upends the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and damages the jungle ecosystem.
Rapidly drying tributaries of the mighty Amazon have left boats stranded and food and water supplies disrupted to remote jungle villages. It is also believed that the high water temperatures have killed more than 100 endangered river dolphins.
The port of Manaus, the region’s most populous city where the Negro River flows into the Amazon, recorded water levels of 13.59 meters (44.6 feet) on Monday, according to its website. This is the lowest level since records began in 1902 and exceeds the previous low set in 2010.
After months without rain, Pedro Mendonca, a villager in the Amazon rainforest, was relieved when a Brazilian NGO delivered aid to his riverside community near Manaus late last week.
“We have gone three months without rain here in our community,” said Mendonca, who lives in Santa Helena do Inglês, west of Manaus, the capital of Amazonas state. “It’s much hotter than previous droughts.”
Indigenous Amazonians are calling on Brazil to declare a state of emergency due to severe drought
According to the Brazilian government’s disaster warning center Cemaden, some areas of the Amazon experienced their lowest rainfall since 1980 from July to September.
The Brazilian Ministry of Science blames the drought on this year’s outbreak of the climate phenomenon El Niño, which causes extreme weather phenomena worldwide. In a statement earlier this month, the ministry said it expects the drought to last at least until December, when the effects of El Niño are expected to peak.
According to the civil protection authority in the state of Amazonas, where Manaus is located, 481,000 people were affected by the drought as of Monday.
Late last week, workers from the Brazilian NGO Fundação Amazônia Sustentáve (FAS) made their way through the parched region near Manaus to deliver food and other supplies to vulnerable village communities. The drought has threatened their access to food, drinking water and medicines that are normally transported via rivers.
Nelson Mendonca, a leader in Santa Helena do Inglês, said although some areas were still accessible by canoe, many boats were unable to travel on the river to bring supplies and the goods were transported by tractors or transported on foot.
“It’s not very good for us because we’re virtually isolated,” he said.
Luciana Valentin, who also lives in Santa Helena do Inglês, said she was concerned about the cleanliness of the local water supply after drought reduced water levels.
“Our children get diarrhea, vomiting and often fever because of the water,” she said.
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