Mighty river to muddy trickle South Americas Parana rings climate alarm

The analysis showed that combined average rainfall in those four Brazilian states has plunged to the lowest level since at least the early 1990s. Precipitation levels during that time have dropped by half, with the trend accelerating in the past decade.

"This past year will stand out compared to anything else from the past any way you measure it," said Isaac Hankes, Refinitiv senior weather research analyst.

That sustained drop in rainfall directly impacts the level of the Parana thousands of kilometers down river in Argentina and Paraguay, where huge ships and barges rely on deep river channels to ferry large agricultural cargoes.

The river's declining levels are hindering the transport of such cargo because ships are unable to be fully loaded due to concern that a deeper draft - the distance from the waterline to the vessel's bottom - from the extra weight might cause them to run aground.

The river's average depth over the past two years at the Argentine inland grains port of Rosario is the second lowest on record, behind a historic drought in 1944. Measuring sticks that dot the river at key points and provide depth gauges related to a set historical "zero" level - instead of the river bed - have dropped into negative territory.

Guillermo Wade, manager of Argentina's Chamber of Port and Maritime Activities, said the lower level means that ships are cutting grain cargoes by around 20 per cent versus normal volumes. Ships must cut from 1,600 to 2,175 tonnes of cargo to save a foot of draft, Wade added. Vessels are leaving Rosario with an average draft of about 9.1m versus the normal 10.4m, Wade said.

"In more than 40 years that I have been in this job, I have never seen it reach 33cm below zero. I had never seen that," Wade said.

Low river levels also have forced exporters to take smaller loads in cargo ships while upriver and then add cargo at deep water ports down the river, raising logistics costs. Argentina has lost about US$620 million in soybean meal and soyoil exports alone due to transport problems caused by lower river levels, according to the Rosario grains exchange.

"Through this decline we are losing cargo loads," Wade said. "Perhaps next time instead of coming for this little bit here, boats will go directly to Brazil and we will lose out."

'RAPID RECHARGE'

In wetland areas around the river delta in Argentina, lower water levels have contributed to a spike in wildfires, with people in river island communities losing homes and livestock.

"When the river rises just 10cm here they celebrate," said Javier Herenu, 53, a local teacher near Charigue whose boat commute from his home to the school has been replaced by a long walk in a dry riverbed.

"The economic impact is gigantic," Carlos Balletbo, a senior official at regional shipper Atria, said at his office near the tri-border area where Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay meet and the Iguazu River joins the Parana.

Paraguay's rivers carry 96 per cent of the landlocked county's exports.

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