Where there was water, now there is soil. And the pictures of Canelón Grande Reservoir, in Canelonesimpacted the residents of the area because the place dried up due to the lack of rain. “We have never seen anything like this,” mayor Yamandú Orsi tweeted. In OSE they consider that with the situation in which the area was left, the state company lost a water reserve.
Federico Gutierrez
Dry Canelón Grande Reservoir
The water supply for Canelones originally came from four sources that were unified: the Canelón Grande reservoir, the Paso Severino dam, the Santa Lucía stream and a downstream diversion, which has contact with the Río de la Plata. The waters gathered in the Santa Lucía. “We had four sources, now we have three,” explained the OSE president, Raúl Montero.
Dry Canelón Grande Reservoir
However, Montero assured that the drought in Canelón Grande will not affect the supply and that in the calculations of quantity of water that are remaining, That reservoir was never taken into account too much, as the Paso Severino dam has been considered. Up to now there are some 23 million cubic centimeters of water left there, reported OSE. Normally – before the drought – that dam was around 60 million cubic centimeters.
The OSE director for the Broad Front, Edgardo Ortuño, explained that “Canelón Grande was used in emergencies” and when it began to be used due to the drought “it went down with unexpected speed.” Ortuño added that “the water supply to Montevideo is assured” because Canelón Grande does not change the level of reserves in the capital.
large cannelloni “It is a place that we have to prioritize a little more. Especially in terms of water quality”considered Montero and added: “What happens is that the management of Canelón Grande is a bit independent from OSE because when it starts to shrink, it cannot even be used for irrigation”.
Federico Gutierrez
Dry Canelón Grande Reservoir
Orsi posted a video of the dam on his Twitter account. Twitter and wrote: “An image that brings us closer to the real dimension of the problem” and added: “Do we now understand why the Casupá reserve is important?” The Casupá reserve is a possibility handled by OSE since the previous administration but the current authorities have decided prioritize the Arazatí project.
Federico Gutierrez
Dry Canelón Grande Reservoir
Ortuño agreed that the Casupá reserve should have been built. “What we proposed in 2020 as an urgency is confirmed and that is now taking shape with this situation of drought. It should have been managed in order to maintain the basic reserves of Canelón Grande to avoid environmental damage,” said the director of OSE.
“Complicated” situation in Mines
Starting this Tuesday, OSE will take tanker trucks from Maldonado to Minas to supply water to the San Francisco stream, one of the main sources of water supply in that area. Montero said that the goal is “to get to cover the month of April.”
They will arrive at Lavalleja four OSE trucks with drivers from the Ministry of Defense and others provided by Ancap. “If we bring water from Maldonado, which is what is closest and which is available, We reduce the operating hours of the plant on the San Francisco stream and we make the water that we have dammed water last longer,” said Montero.
