Reflections

by Raymond Aycock

Brazil

Brazil’s Cantareira Reservoir System supplies water to the largest city, Sao Paulo, which is home to nearly 20 million people in the greater metro area. A severe drought has plagued the region this year, leading to a depletion of the reservoir system. In mid-October Sao Paulo’s water utility stated that the system is operating at only 3 percent of its capacity. The Wall Street Journal reported that the Cantareira would run completely dry by mid-November. Sabesp, the state’s water utility, maintains that they have not implemented any water rationing in response to the drought and decreased capacity of the reservoir system. Before Brazil’s elections in October, state politicians were downplaying or ignoring the water crisis. However, residents reported outages and decreased water pressure, with the poorer areas being disproportionately affected. Some residents reported water shut-offs for hours, sometimes a couple of days. In the city proper, residents receive discounts on their bill if they can reduce water consumption by 20 percent. In some outlying cities, trucks are bringing in water from other areas. Residents in the municipality of Itu told Al Jazeera reporters that they were re-using dirty sewage water to flush toilets, and waited in lines by a ravine to get water from a hidden water pipe. The residents are not sure about the quality of the water they are getting from the pipe. Both water and energy utilities are expected to see a price increase during the next month. Sao Paulo state has been in conflict with surrounding states regarding the use of river water for hydropower when so many residents are facing a water shortage. A Sabesp spokesperson speculated that even if the rainy season gave some relief to the drought, it is unlikely the reservoirs would recover enough to avoid water rationing through the next year.

South Africa

Stolen copper cables needed for water pump stations to operate in South Africa’s Gauteng province were cited as the reason for almost two weeks’ disruption of water supply in September of this year. The cables have been recovered and the thieves are awaiting trial, but discussion about water in Gauteng remains active. Officials at the national level say that the province is downplaying the issue of water supply, stating that the provincial government is not addressing serious issues with water delivery. Poor maintenance, aging infrastructure, and a lack of tech savvy staff contributed to the interruption of service for the urban dwellers in Gauteng, and rural residents who have been promised piped water and reservoirs are still dependent on communal water supplies. There are temporary tanks set up in some areas, but the water is usually brackish and unsafe to drink. One municipal official from Johannesburg blamed urban population growth for the lack of rural water supply, and for the mediocre response to the water crisis in September. A recent General House Survey for South Africa found that only 45.3 percent of South Africans have access to safe drinking water inside their houses. The constitution explicitly states, “Everyone has the right to have access to sufficient food and water.” It is a promise on paper, but it is not a fulfilled promise in all of the lives of South Africa’s citizens. In Gauteng, the urban crisis of water supply interruption is over, but a solution to the rural water problem is still pending.

United States

Detroit, Michigan has lost more than a million residents since 1950, but the water infrastructure has not changed. In some of the poorest neighborhoods in one of the United States’ poorest cities, residents pay some of the highest water rates in the nation. Poor policing and a lack of sufficient staff in the Water and Sewage Department results in massive scavenging and squatting in vacant buildings, leading to burst water pipes and flooding. The bills for these incidents are tacked on to property taxes, resulting in foreclosures on homes and rising debt for the Water and Sewage Department. Under pressure to reduce more than $90 million in bad debt, the city announced, and quickly enacted, water shutoffs for residents who were more than two months behind on their water bills, or owed at least $150. A report in September stated that water shutoffs were happening at a rate of 400 households per day. Between March and August of this year nearly 22,000 homes lost access to water, and out of that number a little over 15,000 had their access restored. At least 7,000 homes in Detroit are still without access. Citizens of Detroit have been quick to fight back, and around the globe human rights activists have been outspoken about the denial of a basic human right. UN officials issued a formal statement regarding the water shutoffs in Detroit as a “human rights violation.” As of yet, there has been no federal or state intervention to stop the water shutoffs. The city has been using private companies to conduct the shutoffs, and has employed Veolia Corporation (well-known as an advocate for the privatization of public systems worldwide) as a consultant for water infrastructure repairs and operations improvement, leading workers’ organizations to condemn the privatization of a basic human right that will further deprive Detroit’s poorest citizens (disproportionately black citizens) of water.