"Water Will Run out:" Colombia Declares Emergency over Upcoming El Niño
IDEAM warned the drought could be the worst since the 1950s, and officials ordered emergency spending to protect water, power and food supplies.
- President Gustavo Petro ordered a $1.2 billion transfer to disaster management agency UNGRD to double solar panel purchases, aiming to reduce demand on hydroelectric dams threatened by drought.
- According to environmental institute IDEAM, the climate phenomenon could become the worst since the 1950s, peaking between year-end and next year while threatening energy supplies across Colombia.
- To protect water security, the government is funding previously designed drinking water projects and purchasing desalination plants for the Caribbean region to prevent shortages.
- Petro urged the Justice Ministry to secure "the accelerated surrender of lands, 500 thousand hectares, that have not been awarded" to landless farmers, helping recover food supply within six months.
- Recalling the UNGRD crisis in 2024, the president warned cabinet members against corruption, noting that detentions of multiple government officials resulted from that situation.
12 Articles
12 Articles
Every time the El Niño phenomenon appears, the country enters into a well-known conversation: reservoirs, energy savings, thermoelectrics, tariffs, possible rationings and even change of schedule. Fear is not new. In Colombia, the memory of the blackout of the 1990s during the Gaviria government, which even advanced an hour to take advantage of the sun, continues to appear every time the rains drop. This time the alert is not less. On July 9, 20…
Colombia Water Emergency: Bogotá Rationing, Hydropower at Risk
Climate & Infrastructure Key Facts —National disaster. President Gustavo Petro signed Decree 0037 in January 2024, declaring a 12-month national disaster situation due to El Niño. —Bogotá rationing. The Chingaza reservoir system, supplying 70% of the capital’s water, fell to 16-17% capacity, triggering rotating 24-hour shutoffs across nine zones. —Widespread scarcity. Over 565 municipalities reported […] The post Colombia Water Emergency: Bogotá…
The measure seeks to prepare the country for a possible reduction in reservoir levels between December and March.
"Water will run out:" Colombia declares emergency over upcoming El Niño
Colombia’s government agreed to declare a national emergency over the consequences of El Niño, a climate phenomenon that is expected to bring extreme drought in December. According to the government’s environmental institute, IDEAM, this year’s Niño could become the worst since the 1950’s and will peak between November 2026 an March 2027. During a minister’s council, President Gustavo Petro said that excessive heat and water shortages could lead…
Faced with the arrival of the El Niño phenomenon and the possibility of a decrease in reservoir levels, the national Government announced a budgetary adjustment to strengthen prevention measures
President Gustavo Petro ordered Ecopetrol to immediately authorize the import of gas in order to prevent a possible energy crisis by the end of 2026, in the midst of projections on the impact of the El Niño phenomenon on the country. The instruction was given during a session of the National Council for Disaster Risk Management, where the president addressed the call to the president of Ecopetrol, Juan Carlos Hurtado, noting that the recruitment…
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