Peru Declares Emergency in 544 Districts Due to Water Shortages

On Tuesday, the Peruvian government declared a state of emergency in 544 districts for 60 days due to an "imminent danger" of a water deficit that could arise as a consequence of the possible arrival of El Nino between 2023 and 2024.

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The decree said that this would allow "the execution of emergency measures and actions, immediate and necessary, to reduce the existing extreme high risk."

With the technical coordination of the National Institute of Civil Defense (INDECI) and other state institutions, regional and local governments will adopt corresponding measures that will be "modified according to needs" as they arise.

The decree was based on an INDECI technical report issued on Sept. 13, which reported on current hydrological conditions and the state of reservoirs, as well as the possibility of the El Nino phenomenon in the Central and Eastern Pacific until the summer of 2024.

The text reads, "Climate change threatens Lake Titicaca. The world's highest lake, Titicaca, between Bolivia and Peru, loses 10 liters of water per second, according to some estimates. Drought threatens communities that live off agriculture and livestock in the highlands."

Warning that the situation could affect the health of the population, crops, and livestock, it said that "urgent measures must be taken" to implement the corresponding measures and actions.

The departments affected by the decree include Ancash, Apurimac, Arequipa, Ayacucho, Cusco, Huancavelica, Huanuco, Ica, Junin, La Libertad, Lima, Pasco, Puno, and Tacna.

Actions by regional and local governments so far "are insufficient" as they do not have enough technical and operational response capacity "to address the imminent danger of water shortages," so the national government must intervene.