Brasília – Brazil is in a comfortable situation with regard to availability of water resources when compared with other countries, according to the National Water Agency (ANA). The document Status of Water Resources in Brazil 2012 (Conjuntura dos Recursos Hídricos no Brasil 2012) issued this Monday (4th) in Brasília, reveals that the volume of water in the country is equivalent to 12% of all the water in the world. The same document, however, warns that the apparent comfort stemming from this situation is coupled with an uneven distribution of said resources.
The ANA survey has shown that 80% of water in Brazil is located in the Amazonian region. “Brazil holds large freshwater reserves, but they are distributed very unevenly. Some regions have very strong hydric potentials, while in others the water is scarce,” said the ANA chairman Vicente Andreu.
Artificial reservoirs are pointed out by ANA technicians as key elements to solving the concentration issue. “This will be among the main topics at Rio+20. Regarding the increasing of preservation, we want to discuss whether reservoirs have negative impacts only. Of course, reservoirs have significant environmental and social impacts, but they can be effective tools in floods and the water supply,” added Andreu.
Based on ANA calculations, there are 3,600 cubic metres of water stored in reservoirs per inhabitant in Brazil. The volume is higher than those of several continents. In Europe, for instance, the rate is 1,400 cubic metres per inhabitant. In Latin America and the Caribbean, it is 836 cubic metres per inhabitant.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
