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Paraguay's drying river stirs water stress in between fishers and farmers

A sharp decrease in the Paraguay River, which struck a record low this month due to drought upstream in Brazil, is sustaining a dispute between the country's fishers and rice farmers over water use in a. southern wetland area surrounding Argentina.

Homeowners of the Ñeembucú department and regional fishers say. that water-intensive rice farms, which use river water to. irrigate their crops, are intensifying already-low water levels. linked to drier weather brought on by environment change.

It is really destructive. They take a great deal of water and river. levels worsen, said Crescencio Almada, a fisherman for 35. years in the region, part of a wetland in the Plata basin, which. regulates the flow of the Paraguay and Paraná rivers.

The drought upriver that has actually seen rivers dry up in the. Brazilian Amazon, and the advance of farming, have changed the. area's landscape, with large tracts of land planted with rice. where water or forests once stood.

Nevertheless, rice farmers, and the government, say the problem. is connected to climate modification, not watering.

We have actually been working for 5 years in the area and we have. sustained cyclical minutes of low water levels in the river as. well as minutes of big quantities of water, said Paraguayan Rice. Federation president Ignacio Heisecke.

The river runs for 1,600 kilometers (994 miles) within. Brazil and the low water level comes from upstream. The. Paraguayan producer who is downstream is not to blame.

David Fariña, director of water security and preservation. at Paraguay's environment ministry, stated the main reason for low. water levels was a lack of rainfall in the river basin and the. important situation up-river in Brazil.

Need to we blame the current circumstance of the Paraguay River. on the farming sector, thinking about that the whole Plata basin. has had a rainfall deficit for around four years? he said,. including that other local rivers had likewise dropped.

The Paraná River, the Pilcomayo River, are all in the exact same. situation. There is no rice there.

Paraguay grows 175,000 hectares (432,000 acres) of rice in. Ñeembucú and five other departments and produces about 1.5. million metric lots of the grain. In 2023, the country exported. some 900,000 loads worth $400 million, according to the. federation.

The Paraguay River hit a record low on Oct. 11 at the. Alberdi port before improving somewhat. The nationwide Meteorology. Directorate expects the river to stay low???? up until year-end.

Sergio Jara, another angler, informed Reuters the river had. dropped a lot, blaming farmers utilizing water for irrigation, as. he eyed a muddy puddle where he used to fish in Vacation home Oliva,. about 100 km (60 miles) from Asuncion.

Before, at least we caught a little more, now almost. absolutely nothing. It's inadequate to reside on, the water level has actually gone. down a lot, he stated.

(source: Reuters)