Depend on the transport of drinking water in Civil Defense vehicles and live with daily interruptions in supply. These have been the routines of some residents and farmers in municipalities in Roraima, who are facing the effects of the drought that is hitting the state.
The National Center for Natural Disaster Monitoring and Alerts (Cemaden) pointed out that, in November, eleven of the state's 15 municipalities were on alert for droughts. The cities of Pacaraima, São Luiz, São João da Baliza and Caroebe are the only ones under attention.
In municipalities like Cantá, in the North, the drought reduced river levels and reduced the flow of wells. The lack of water affects food production.
Understand: Roraima has been in an emergency situation since September, due to the effects of drought and El Niño in the state. This Tuesday (10), the National Water and Basic Sanitation Agency (ANA) declared, for the first time, a critical situation of water scarcity in two rivers.
In the home of farmer Belina Caetano, the situation is one of insecurity. She produces vegetables in Vila Central, in Cantá, about 240 km from Boa Vista. To maintain the chive and coriander plantation in her backyard, Belina depends on a well and, if the water level drops, the solution is to deepen the structure.
"If there's no water, how are we going to water the plants? We plant the seeds, and how are we going to water them? There's no way. Then we have to sink the well further", says Belina.
To try to save part of the crop, Belina cut the damaged foliage and preserved the seeds for new plantings. It supplies food to markets and schools in the region, but had to reduce delivery. Now, he hopes to receive support to maintain cultivation.
"There's no way [to supply schools], it's slow. But I'm not going to give up. I have to keep going, it's not much, but it's going to happen," he said.
In Vila Central, water is supplied by six artesian wells and a Water Treatment Station (ETA), maintained by the Roraima Water and Sewage Company (Caer). The station collects water from the Cachorro River.
According to Messias Miranda, operator of the Caer treatment plant in Vila Central, during the rainy season, the wells supply between 10,000 and 15,000 liters of water per hour. During drought, the flow drops to around 5 thousand liters.
To guarantee the quality of the water sent to homes, the Caer team interrupts the Water Treatment Plant during part of the afternoon to wash the filters and accumulate the reservoir. During this period, the wells continue to function, but they cannot cope on their own.
"The wells are connected 24 hours a day here in the village, but if they are left alone, they won't maintain it. It's the ETA that maintains it. In the afternoon, we stop [the station] for a little while to wash the filter, do the water treatment and collect water to send to the people. Then the wells stay connected, but they can't handle it."
With the temporary interruption of the season, residents of the highest areas of the village are left without water for part of the afternoon. To maintain water collection in the Cachorro River, Caer also uses a mobile ferry, which allows water to be removed from deeper sections of the riverbed.
Impacts on production: The lack of rain also harms small farmers and animal breeders in the region. Without enough water to irrigate the plantations, producers record losses in cassava, corn and pumpkin crops. The drought also affects the raising of cattle, pigs and chickens.
According to the head of the Institute of Technical Assistance and Rural Extension of Roraima (Iater) in Vila Central, Lucas Martins, almost all producers in the region were affected by the drought. Among more than 100 farmers served, only four have irrigation systems.
"The few who have an irrigation system, be it drip or sprinkler, are still able to produce or at least maintain themselves at the moment. But the majority of those who don't have a system have their fields suffering greatly. We don't know how things will turn out, as we still have five months of the worst of the summer ahead of us, and we are already in a difficult situation," he said.
Given the scenario, Iater advises producers to build food stocks for livestock and exercise caution before starting new crops. The agency also recommends that farmers seek credit lines to invest in irrigation systems, drill wells or deepen existing ones.
"We are even advising some producers not to plant, because we don't know if they will have the technical capacity to support the crop. There is no point investing in quality seed and fertilizer if there is no way to supply water to the plants", highlighted Lucas Martins.
Emergency supply: In isolated communities and indigenous areas of Amajari, such as Leão de Ouro, Ananás, Juraci, Três Corações and Cajoeiro, the supply of drinking water depends on city hall operations. The action starts around 5am.
Municipal Civil Defense uses vehicles to assist families whose wells have dried up or become unfit for consumption. The agents use a pickup truck adapted with a closed thousand-liter reservoir to transport the water.
"This is how we are able to address the issue of the lack and scarcity of drinking water for human consumption in communities and non-indigenous areas as well, as we serve some nearby sites where water for consumption is no longer useful", says Chaguinha Soares, coordinator of Amajari's Civil Defense.
In addition to transporting water to communities, the teams also work to combat forest fires, favored by dry vegetation. Roraima has recorded an increase in the number of hot spots since July.
Data from the National Institute for Space Research (Inpe) indicate that Roraima recorded 187 hot spots between November 1st and 10th. In October, there were 453 registrations, the highest number for the period in the state.
Since January, Roraima has had 2,615 hot spots. The number is 69.9% higher than that recorded throughout last year, when 1,539 outbreaks were recorded.
