Water event
Cantareira water crisis, São Paulo
The reservoir system supplying most of metropolitan São Paulo fell to a few percent of usable capacity, bringing a megacity of 20 million within weeks of supply failure.
Key facts
- Event type
- Drought
- Started
- 2014-01-01
- Ended
- 2015-12-31
Cause
Two consecutive failed wet seasons, combined with high leakage, limited system interconnection and delayed demand restriction.
Impact
- Cantareira system storage fell below 5% of usable volume
- Pressure reduction amounting to undeclared rationing across much of the city
- Extraction from dead storage below the normal outlets
Response
Emergency dead-storage pumping, incentive schemes for reduced consumption, and pressure management.
Aftermath
Prompted diversification of São Paulo’s supply and remains the leading modern example of a very large city approaching outright water supply failure.
Relationships
- Located in: Brazil
Related intelligence
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Sources
- Peer-reviewed scientific literature — Open-access hydrology, water chemistry and water use research. Public but restricted · Publisher terms — public access, reuse not clearly granted