(CNN Spanish) – The Government of Ecuador declared a red alert this Thursday in 15 of the country’s 24 provinces due to the water deficit that prevails in them, the Ministry of Environment, Water and Ecological Transition reported in a statement.
The measure was announced after a meeting of the Emergency Operations Committee (COE) in which the situation was analyzed and, in addition to the water deficit, forest fires and food sovereignty were included as the causes for declaring the red alert.
In statements to the press, the Minister of the Environment, Inés Manzano, said that in the affected provinces there are lower levels of rain than what usually occurs at this time of year.
The affected provinces are Carchi, Loja, Pichincha, Cañar, Azuay, Bolívar, Zamora Chinchipe, Imbabura, Napo, El Oro, Santa Elena, Cotopaxi, Manabí and Orellana, Manzano said.
To address the problem, the COE declared itself in permanent session and the Ministry of Economy and Finance will prioritize the delivery of resources to the areas that need them.
The declaration of this red alert occurs the same week that Ecuador had its first national blackout as part of a series of power cuts planned by the Government due to the drought facing the country.
According to the authorities, water scarcity hinders the operation of hydroelectric plants and this, in turn, the generation of enough electricity to supply the entire system.
