Long Slog
A woman in São Paulo collects water from the only working tap in her downtown apartment building, in the basement. The building’s 300 residents have had intermittent water service since September 2014.
Dramatic Photos Show Brazil’s Crippling Drought
São Paulo’s 20 million people are suffering in a historic crisis.
South America’s largest city is having its worst drought in a century. The city’s reservoir system is at historic low levels and may be completely dry by August.
A drought seems like a strange concept in a country that still appears relatively lush and which is home to 12 percent of the world’s freshwater.
“It doesn’t look dry here like in California,” says Tommaso Protti, an Italian photographer who has lived in São Paulo for the past year.
The causes of the drought include large-scale weather patterns, deforestation (which has changed cloud formation), a soaring urban population, insufficient and leaky infrastructure, pollution of local streams, and lack of planning.
“Many people think the government hasn't taken enough measures to avoid
