First drought emergency called in El Salvador

  • 15/04/2016
Women wash their clothes at Las Tres Piedras river as government has issued an alert due to water shortage, attributed to climate change (Reuters)
Women wash their clothes at Las Tres Piedras river as government has issued an alert due to water shortage, attributed to climate change (Reuters)

The Central American country of El Salvador has declared a water shortage emergency for the first time in its history.

President Salvador Sanchez Ceren cited the effects of climate change and the El Nino phenomenon for the shortage.

In the last four years, rainfall has decreased considerably, and river and water reserve levels have reached a critical state, he said at a news conference.

In recent weeks, residents from neighbourhoods on the outskirts of the capital city of San Salvador have protested because of water shortages in their communities.

Countries across Central America declared an agricultural alert last year as a result of the severe drought which has affected some 1.6 million people in the region, in particular growers of coffee, corn and beans.

Reuters