By Angela Silva Claro PZ ’25

Uruguay, like most developing countries, has been dealing with the consequences of climate change due to political, economic, and social challenges.  Over the past few years, Uruguayan citizens have experienced a noticeable increase in temperatures, making each summer more insufferable. Additionally, with each passing year, the advent of a more severe drought season compounds the country’s challenges. For years it has begun to rain less and less over the summer, but this past summer was by far the worst the country has experienced. The drought at the beginning of the year was so bad that the main potable water sources, like Paso Severino reservoir in the city of Florida, started feeling the lack of water causing the nation to fall into the biggest water crisis Uruguayans have ever seen. This left more than a third of the country without access to clean water to drink, cook, shower, among other daily things. 

The government’s response was focused on alleviating the economic burden that the drought was representing. The deadline for tax payments for livestock producers and commercial farmers was initially postponed for almost 200 days. For smaller farmers, with a maximum of 20 cows they received economic support from the Fondo Agropecuario de Emergencia (Emergency Agricultural Fund). Later in the crisis when people from the southern urban areas could not access clean water in their residences, the government decided to reduce the IVA in all of the bottled water prices. At the same time a big public campaign was introduced to promote care for the water so those who did have access to it wouldn’t waste it.

By the end of June, Paso Severino, home to the potable water of more than half of the 3.4 million people living in Uruguay, contained only 2.4% of its normal water level. In order to solve this problem, government officials decided to bring in water from Rio de La Plata where the freshwater from two rivers meet the saltwater of the Atlantic Ocean. This altered the chemical levels of the waterSodium and chloride levels were double, and even triple, the limit of what is considered safe according to international laws.  This phenomenon left those who couldn’t afford to buy bottled water with little to no option other than to consume the unsafe water. 

Frustrated Uruguayans didn’t hesitate to fill the streets in protest. They are currently speaking up about the contradictions regarding water management by the state. They claim that beyond the natural element of this issue, there is a heavy political and economical layer that has not been discussed by either the mainstream media or state officials. As this crisis is hitting the population, the state continues to negotiate with Belasay S.A, a group owned by the German company Enertag, to produce green hydrogen using the underground water perforations in Uruguay. Meanwhile, the biggest bottled water company in Uruguay, SALUS, owned by a group of French capitals, made a net profit of 4 million USD in 2012, profiting from the natural biodiversity and culture of Uruguay without giving back care to the resources. Additionally, Google is planning to build a data center that would require millions of liters of water per day to cool down the servers. And lastly, in the country’s agroindustrial business, one average cow requires 40 liters of water a day. Activists claim that the real crisis will not end so long as we continue to exploit our natural resources. 

The fact that this happened to the pioneering country in including access to clean water as a fundamental right, speaks on where the state’s priorities lay when making decisions. Uruguayans need to fight the exploitation of natural resources by international hands that don’t care about the impacts of their actions as long as they profit from it. Lastly, it is crucial to listen and support the communities that are not only aware of the pressing water crisis but are also cognizant of the root causes. We should stand by them as they take collective action, raising their voices to hold those responsible accountable.