http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/11/02/venezuela.water.rationing/index.html
Drought conditions have reduced reservoir volume to critical levels, officials say. The level of the Camatagua Reservoir, which supplies Caracas with about half of its water, has been on a downward trend since 2007, according to data from Hidrocapital. However, it's not as low as during the early 2000s. Some water-rationing measures were taken at the time, too, according to Hidrocapital.
In Miranda State, which sits adjacent the capital, the Lagartijo Reservoir is at the lowest level ever recorded.
The government says that the El Nino phenomenon -- unusually warm waters in the equatorial Pacific that affects weather around the globe -- is behind the dry conditions.
Venezuela's National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology also pointed a finger at something called quasi-biennial oscillation, which affects winds in the stratosphere.
Drought conditions have reduced reservoir volume to critical levels, officials say. The level of the Camatagua Reservoir, which supplies Caracas with about half of its water, has been on a downward trend since 2007, according to data from Hidrocapital. However, it's not as low as during the early 2000s. Some water-rationing measures were taken at the time, too, according to Hidrocapital.
In Miranda State, which sits adjacent the capital, the Lagartijo Reservoir is at the lowest level ever recorded.
The government says that the El Nino phenomenon -- unusually warm waters in the equatorial Pacific that affects weather around the globe -- is behind the dry conditions.
Venezuela's National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology also pointed a finger at something called quasi-biennial oscillation, which affects winds in the stratosphere.