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INSIDELATINAMERICA
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Monday 20 September 2010 |
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Bolivia:
Waters
of Lake
Titicaca
Drop off
Significantly
LA PAZ -
A
drought
warning
may be
declared
for Lake
Titicaca
because
its
water
level is
only 15
inches
higher
than
what
would
oblige
authorities
to
declare
an
emergency,
the
Bolivian
Naval
Hydrography
Department
confirmed.
This
extreme
situation
usually
occurs
every
eight to
12
years,
but lake
levels
are now
tending
to drop
considerably
compared
to
previous
periods,
said
department
director
Jorge
Espinoza.
The
phenomenon
is
related
to a
lack of
rain in
this
region,
home to
the
second
largest
lake in
South
America
after
Lake
Maracaibo
in
Venezuela,
and
because
its
feeder
rivers
are low,
also due
to
drought.
These
low
levels
in the
highest
navigable
lake in
the
world,
with
banks in
Bolivia
and
Peru, is
accompanied
by a
decrease
in the
flow of
the
Desaguadero
River,
which
irrigates
the
northern
highlands
of
Bolivia
and is
the main
affluent
of Poopo
Lake,
the only
saltwater
lake in
the
area,
and
located
3,686
meters
above
sea
level.
Low
water
levels
are also
affecting
the
hydrographic
basins
of the
Amazon,
the
Plata,
and the
northern
Beni, a
more
troubling
case
because
its
waters
are
eight
feet
below
normal
levels,
according
to
Espinoza.
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