Tributary of the Amazon River recorded a historic low of 41 cm at the height of Porto Velho (RO); trend is for a new record by October
The depth of the Madeira River is 3 meters below the standard considered normal for this time of year. After breaking the historical record by registering a height of 41 cm in the section that crosses Porto Velho (RO) on Saturday (14.set), the projection of the SGB (Geological Service of Brazil) is that the situation should worsen until October and break new records.
To the Poder360the coordinator of the SGB hydrological alert system, Artur Matos, said that the situation on the Madeira River is the result of a scenario that has been worsening in recent years. According to the latest monitoring bulletin for the Madeira River basin, released this Tuesday (17.Sep.2024), the river has been recording historic lows for 3 consecutive years. Read the full of the document (PDF – 1 MB).
In the expert’s view, although a new historical low to be recorded in 2024 is on the radar, the result was surprising. The depth of Madeira is almost 1/3 of the level recorded in 2023, which was already the lowest in the entire historical series that began in 1964.
“Last year, it held the record at 1.10 meters. It is already 70 cm below last year, which was the lowest mark. The average for this period, for all these years, from 1964 onwards, would be 3.50 meters. We are 3 meters below the average, which is very bad.”said Matos.
The expert stated that the outlook for SGB is for the situation to worsen by October. This is due to the Madeira River reaching its annual minimum at the end of September.
In a normal scenario, the Madeira River begins to regain its volume with the start of the rainy season in October. However, meteorological projections estimate a smaller amount of rainfall for the months of October and November.
“Normally the minimum occurs at the end of September, the rainy season starts now in October and November, when the rain comes at the right time the recession rate decreases and in December it starts to rise again and reaches a maximum between March and April”he declared.
The low water level of the Madeira River brings with it a series of economic problems. In addition to affecting the reservoirs of the Santo Antonio and Jirau hydroelectric plants, low water levels also impact transport, water supply and fishing in the region.
#Madeira #River #meters #normal #expert