|
So the big news. I'm delighted to tell you that on Wednesday the Uruguayan government declared the end to the water crisis that has affected the capital of Uruguay and surroundings since May. It's all thanks to recent rainfall.
I was really surprised at the number of people who wrote to me wondering if they should even come to Uruguay later on in the year. It didn't feel like that kind of emergency here on the ground.
We never actually did not have water in the taps, nor were there times of the day when we were unable to fill our kettles or flush our toilets (perhaps there should have been). But the state water company OSE began mixing brackish water from the Rio de la Plata estuary into the water supply. So it tasted pretty salty and disagreeable and people with high blood pressure and pregnant women were warned to drink bottled water.
The state took tax off bottled water and issued 2 litres a day to half a million people (I shudder regarding all that plastic and there's been no discussion around that). And most importantly in the meantime a new dam to serve Montevideo is being built and water pipes to transfer water from one river to another will mean that thankfully the capital city will no longer just have one source of ground water.
The Guardian linked to the article that we wrote back in May regarding the causes of the crisis. Check it out if you missed it. Anyway, what a relief. And here's to water conservation being a major part of next year's election platforms.
|
