Sabesp must guarantee 10% of the Cantareira reservoir in April.
The 13th Civil Court of the Federal Justice of the capital of São Paulo confirmed the decision of the Piracicaba sub-section, dated October 10th of last year, and determined that Sabesp must recover and preserve at least 10% of the usable volume of the Cantareira System until the beginning of the dry season, which starts at the end of April; in practice, the National Water Agency and the Department of Water and Electric Energy, also defendants in the action, will be obliged to limit the withdrawal of water by Sabesp, aiming to guarantee this volume.
Brazil Current Network - The 13th Civil Court of the Federal Justice of the capital of São Paulo confirmed the decision of the Piracicaba sub-section, dated October 10th of last year, and determined that Sabesp must recover and preserve at least 10% of the usable volume of the Cantareira System until the beginning of the dry season, which starts at the end of April. The case was the subject of a Public Civil Action filed by the State and Federal Public Prosecutor's Offices in October of last year. The injunction obtained at that time was overturned after ten days.
The decision also mandates that Sabesp and regulatory bodies undertake efforts to restore the 95% water supply guarantee within five years. This means that, within a two-year timeframe, Sabesp must maintain the supply at normal levels for at least 22 and a half months.
In practice, the National Water Agency (ANA, federal) and the Department of Water and Electric Energy (Daee, state), also defendants in the lawsuit, will be obliged to limit water withdrawal by Sabesp, aiming to guarantee volume. Whether it will be necessary to suspend water withdrawal, change reservoirs to serve certain neighborhoods, or carry out any type of construction work is up to Sabesp and the regulatory bodies. The lawsuit also requires Sabesp to develop a contingency plan for the water crisis.
The São Paulo state government, through Sabesp (the water and sewage company), and DAEE (the water and sewage company) have already announced that they will appeal the decision. ANA (the National Water Agency) did not appeal when the injunction was granted in October and stated that it will await notification to analyze the situation. Sabesp claims that it is impossible to comply with the decision and maintain the water supply.
For the governor of São Paulo, Geraldo Alckmin (PSDB), the decision is misguided. "It's absurd to have 200 billion liters and leave people without water. That's unimaginable," he stated at a press conference in the municipality of Jaguariúna, in the interior of São Paulo.
The action, however, does not mandate a complete halt to water withdrawal from the Cantareira system, but rather the development of a contingency plan that establishes targets for the volume to be preserved at the end of each planning period. Furthermore, the use of water from the dead volume must adhere to strict criteria to prevent its rapid depletion.
The depletion of the second dead volume could cause water shortages in the Campinas and Piracicaba region and the Piracicaba, Capivari and Jundiaí River Basin (PCJ Basin), which comprises 73 municipalities. This is because the water outflow from the Cantareira system to the region is above where the second level of the dead volume would end, leaving the region only with water from smaller rivers, tributaries of the Piracicaba River.