Two Months from World Cup: São Paulo Governor Doesn´t Rule Out Water Rationing

04/10/2014 - 10h16

Two months away from the World Cup, the governor of São Paulo, the city hosting the opening ceremony said this Wednesday morning that he won´t rule out water rationing.

"We won´t rule out a rotary system (...) We will evaluate daily. There is no need for it right now", said Geraldo Alckrim (PSDB) at an event in São Paulo.

In the meantime, Alckmin said that such a decision would have to be made after an analysis. "It´s not definite. It has to be evaluated. A rotary system will create a reduction. But if you can reduce without a rotary system, that´s even better," explained Alckmin.

In a document published this week, waste management company Sabesp officially admitted for the first time the possibility of implementing a rotary system for water usage in São Paulo this year.

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For Alckmim, the existing measures for reducing water consumption, added to the structural works are enough to deal with the recent rain water shortage in the water systems that supply the state, particularly the Cantareira system. The governor says that the decision over rationing will be a "technical" one.

"A rotary system will not be ruled out and will be monitored by technicians. Technical evaluations will be daily and we hope to reduce consumption in the whole metropolitan area. This will be important for our daily evaluation," said Alckmin.

Both Sabesp and Alckmin, who is up for reelection in October, had been avoiding commenting on the question of rationing. The PSDB government is concerned about the effect this measure could have on the elections.

Translated by MILLI LEGRAIN

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