In the Midst of a Great Drought, Transposition of the São Francisco River Divides the Northeast of Brazil

03/20/2017 - 13h12

The transposition of the São Francisco River, which had its east axis inaugurated with a celebration by President Michel Temer this month, is the subject of a political dispute.

The monumental construction project has already cost R $ 9.6 billion (US$ 3.1 billion) and has its paternity claimed by Lula, who took the idea out of the paper in 2007, and it is also attributed to him by residents of the region.

In parallel, with the arrival of the waters of the river at the canals and dams, another dispute, less visible, takes place among people along the route of the construction project, hit by the most severe drought in 50 years in the Northeast.

At the part that begins to receive the water of the river, what one finds are euphoria and hope among residents. As one descends on the map towards the São Francisco basin, the reports are of apprehension or opposition.

In this second group is the Silva couple. "The transposition is damaging the river. The pump is on all the time pulling water, the level is low and it is already lowering," said José Aílton Silva. "I understand their joy [benefited residents], because they lived by truck, but you have to see the suffering that it is now causing here," said Ana Paula Silva.

When they see the river so low, they both report fear that the water price will increase and it won't be enough for the agriculture activity in the region, according to another family member.

"They" is how Ana Paula refers to the mainly sertanejos of Paraíba and Pernambuco. People such as the bricklayer Sebastião Gomes Cazuza, 58, who worked for three years in the transposition construction site (earned R$ 6.64 per hour, getting over R$ 2,460 per month overtime) and on the last day, on a Saturday, admired the canal water filling the Campos Dam, in Sertânia (PE).

A resident of a street without water supply, accustomed to buy water from a water truck, 3,000 liters for R$ 45, Cazuza was both happy, for the result of his work and for seeing a less dry life ahead.

Translated by AZAHARA MARTÍN

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