’We are in shock’: historic Bolivia drought hammers homes and crops | Global development | The Guardian
▻https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2016/nov/25/bolivia-drought-water-rationing-crops
Teodora Cauna de Quispe hasn’t had water at her house in Bolivia’s capital, La Paz, for two weeks. “We can’t wash ourselves or our clothes,” she said. “Every so often there is a bit of muddy water that spurts out of the tap on my patio.”
A tanker has delivered water only once, and Teodora – who, like many of her neighbors, works as a maid in a wealthy neighborhood nearby – has been forced to buy expensive bottled water for her family to drink.
Bolivian water rationing – in pictures
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This week, President Evo Morales declared a national emergency, after the combined impact of the #El_Niño weather cycle, poor water management and climate change helped cause the country’s worst drought in 25 years. Water rationing is in effect for the first time ever in La Paz, where the three main reservoirs that provide the city’s water are almost dry. The semi-arid highlands surrounding the capital rely almost entirely on replenishment by rainfall.
Five other cities face severe water shortages. Bread, a key staple here, is increasingly scarce and many hospitals are working at half capacity, suspending non-emergency surgeries and dialysis. In the poor neighborhoods of southern Sucre, taps have run dry for three weeks.
The drought has hit rural areas hard as reservoirs and lakes dry up, crops wither and animals die. Indigenous rituals beseeching the gods for rain have taken on a particular urgency this year and last, when the drought began.
