The Drought in the Amazon causes a sharp drop in river levels, impeding navigation by barges carrying grains for export and cutting off towns that rely on river transportation. The Brazilian Geological Service (SGB) has warned that the Drought has been causing a sharp drop in river levels since June, and all rivers in the Amazon basin are anticipated to go below historical levels.

The Rio Negro River in Manaus is 21 metres deep, down from 24 metres at the same time in 2023, which is causing concern in the Free Trade Zone, where firms have urged that dredging work on the river begin immediately to avoid last year’s transportation interruption.

According to the government’s Department of Transport Infrastructure, DNIT, dredging has begun at significant spots along the Madeira River where only low-draft vessels may pass. DNIT stated that dredging work for the central Amazon and Solimoes rivers had been contracted. Following last year’s drought, ships were barred from using some Amazon river ports, and consultant ARGUS expects the situation to worsen this year.

“This could lead to the redirecting of grain and fertiliser cargoes in the coming months to Itaqui and other ports in the south and southeast of Brazil,” ARGUS stated in a report, expecting increasing shipping costs for producers.

According to the SGB, the Madeira River in Porto Velho, Rondonia state, has been below two metres since July despite its average depth of 5.3 metres. The river is home to two hydroelectric dams, Jirau and Santo Antonio, and one of Brazil’s essential waterways impacts transportation.

Communities across the Amazon are becoming isolated as river navigability declines. Residents cannot travel to get food, and crops are being affected. In addition, fish are killed when waterways dry up, causing devastation to riverbank towns that rely on fishing for a living.

“In normal droughts, rivers have enough volume to transport food and small boats. But not now. They have dried up, and people are becoming isolated,” said climatologist Jose Marengo in this report, as drought in the Amazon causes a sharp drop in river levels.

The La Niña phenomenon is projected to chill the Pacific near the Equator, resulting in increased humidity in northern Brazil and dry weather in the south.

This year, however, the Pacific waters have not cooled as expected, which, combined with a lack of rain in 2023, has resulted in a catastrophic situation in the Amazon, according to Marengo, Research and Development Coordinator at the National Centre for Natural Disaster Monitoring and Alerts (Cemaden).

According to Marengo, who helped coin the term for the invisible currents of humid air, the lack of rain in the Amazon will deprive areas to the south of moisture via the “flying rivers” that transport water vapour rising from the rainforest to the savannah region beneath the Amazon and on to southern Brazil.

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