Unplugging the São Francisco River

Some bad news from Brazil: the National Water Agency has just approved a reduction in river flow downstream of the Xingo dam (the picture from Google Earth shows Xingo and a bit of the river below).

The reduction is supposed to be "temporary", and the reason is to ensure enough water for "users." As far as I can tell, this means electricity generation and agriculture. Fish don't seem to have been consulted.

"The End of the River" contains more on this sordid story of chipping away at streamflow, and how the needs of the ecosystem seldom seem to get considered.