Droughts and water crises in Southeastern Brazil: a comparison history among the events of 2001, 2014 and 2021 focusing on the Paraná River Basin

Abstract

Herein article brings a comparison among the three main drought events and water crisis that occurred since the beginning of the 21st century, in the years 2001, 2014 and 2021. Through a literature review, data and information were collected regarding physical, political and socio-economic environmental aspects for each of these events in Southeastern Brazil, with a focus on the regions that comprise the Paraná River Basin. The physical aspect includes precipitation, flow and temperature indices, as well as the level of drought intensity for each event; the political aspect comprises information about public policies and decision-making in response to the alert and during the crises; finally, the social, economic and environmental impacts arising from the drought events are considered in the socio-economic and environmental aspect. Based on the comparison, it can be concluded that the implementation or improvement of auxiliary tools for drought and its impacts monitoring took place throughout the years, but water resource management and risk management policies, with attention to vulnerable people, they still need to be effectively incorporated to minimize the effects of such events and greater resilience and adaptability of the affected areas.