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Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents Just as in the United States, working-class and immigrant voters swung right The Conservatives suffered one of the most astonishing falls from popularity in political history An interview with Evo Morales in his tropical highland stronghold MAGA bombast has upended Canada’s political universe and given Mark Carney’s Liberals an edge Donald Trump and Justin Trudeau’s toxic legacy have pushed Canadians to the centre '+n.escapeExpression("function"==typeof(o=null!=(o=r(e,"eyebrowText")||(null!=l?r(l,"eyebrowText"):l))?o:n.hooks.helperMissing)?o.call(null!=l?l:n.nullContext||{},{name:"eyebrowText",hash:{},data:t,loc:{start:{line:28,column:63},end:{line:28,column:78}}}):o)+" \n '+(null!=(o=c(e,"if").call(r,null!=l?c(l,"cta2PreText"):l,{name:"if",hash:{},fn:n.program(32,t,0),inverse:n.noop,data:t,loc:{start:{line:63,column:20},end:{line:63,column:61}}}))?o:"")+"\n"+(null!=(o=(c(e,"ifAll")||l&&c(l,"ifAll")||n.hooks.helperMissing).call(r,null!=l?c(l,"cta2Text"):l,null!=l?c(l,"cta2Link"):l,{name:"ifAll",hash:{},fn:n.program(34,t,0),inverse:n.noop,data:t,loc:{start:{line:64,column:20},end:{line:70,column:30}}}))?o:"")+"  JPEG An astronaut aboard the International Space Station (ISS) focused a long camera lens on the Sun’s reflection point while orbiting over southern coastal Brazil. That reflection (known as sunglint) highlights three major rivers: Rio Paraná For scale, the Atlantic Ocean near the port city of Santos is about 600 kilometers (400 miles) from the Paraná River. The sea surface also reflects sunlight, as does the smoke pall across the top of the image. The smoke came from fires that were burning further north in Brazil and Paraguay Such views looking toward the sunglint point show the water bodies in stark detail But the contrast with dark land surfaces causes such a loss of detail that the entire metropolitan area of São Paulo The Rio Tietê flows right through the metro region from headwaters north of São Paulo. This river provides half of the region’s urban water supply All of these rivers are heavily controlled by strings of reservoirs that retain water flow for use by the major cities and to generate hydroelectric power The reservoirs all appear as the brightest Texas State University on the Jacobs Contract at NASA-JSC View this area in EO Explorer Sunlight highlights details around Rio Paraná, Rio Tiete, and Rio Paranapanema. The wide, multi-island zone in the Rio Negro (Black River) shown in this astronaut photograph from September 2, 2006, is one of two, long “archipelagoes” upstream of the city of Manaus (not shown) in central Amazonia. Sixty kilometers of the total 120-kilemeter length of this archipelago appear in this image. Astronauts learn to sense the way sunlight brings out different features in the water and around coastal cities. In this astronaut photo, the mirror-like reflection of sunlight off water makes the Trombetas River and Lake Erepecu in the Brazilian Amazon stand out from the deep green forest. the São Paulo state government reported 4 flood-related fatalities: 3 in Botucatu and 1 in Marília Meanwhile the number of displacements has increased to over 730 with around 350 of them in the Greater Sao Paulo area mostly in the municipalities of Carapicuíba (65); Pirapora do Bom Jesus (120); Jandira (32); and Itaquaquecetuba (128) Hundreds of people also remain displaced outside Greater Sao Paulo Heavy rain has affected wider areas of the state of São Paulo with severe flooding reported in the city of Botucatu State government in São Paulo confirmed that 246 people have been displaced across the state acting Governor Rodrigo Garcia surveyed the flooded areas of the Pinheiros and Tietê and landslides in Osasco Laranjal Paulista and Taboão da Serra have declared an emergency São Paulo State government said that the regions of Vale do Ribeira Baixada Santista and Alto Tietê were also among the worst affected Torrential rain has caused flooding and landslides in the Greater São Paulo area, Brazil The state government said some places recorded more rain in 3 hours than normally seen in the entire month of February According to Instituto Nacional de Meteorologia (INMET) Barueri recorded 145.8mm of rain in 24 hours to 10 February Mirante de Santana in São Paulo City recorded 121.8mm during the same period The rain caused the Tietê and Pinheiros rivers to overflow with levels of the Pinheiros River at their highest for 15 years according to the Empresa Metropolitana de Águas e Energia (EMAE) Some schools have been closed and public transport suspended The São Paulo Fire Department has responded to more than 4,000 calls from late 09 February with 7 landslides and 132 flood points reported in the Greater São Paulo area overnight By early 10 February these figures had increased to 88 incidents of landslides and flooding in 546 points Cookies | Privacy | Contacts © Copyright 2025 FloodList Latin America’s rivers are some of the most polluted in the world The World Bank says 70 percent of the region’s wastewater goes untreated sewage from millions of Sao Paulo residents is dumped directly into the Tiete river But a major expansion of the sewer system is now underway The Tietê is São Paulo’s main river but it’s far from a picturesque tourist draw The waterway is little more than a huge open sewer –biologically dead with the fish long gone The water is polluted to the point of having nearly zero oxygen People used to seeing and smelling the poisonous Tietê River in São Paulo may be amazed to realize that a short drive upriver is enough to drink pure fresh water directly from the Tietê source These springs were discovered and officially declared the source of the Tietê River in 1954 Drinking and taking home samples of the water is a must for most visitors “It’s a very interesting experience that everyone should try,” said actress Luana Romin I was amazed to see all the life in the water — the little fish which flows at about one and a half liters per second it gathers strength and volume as it cascades down the mountains of the Serra do Mar and remains clean for about 70 kilometers Until it reaches the metropolitan area of São Paulo a tunnel more than seven kilometers long is under construction alongside the Tietê to intercept much of that sewage and take it to a treatment plant the tunnel is almost three and a half meters high It can handle up to six thousand liters of sewage per second But the president of São Paulo’s Water and Sewage utility acknowledges that “The Metropolitan region of São Paulo has a lot of informal settlements,” said Benedito Braga “About three million people live in these conditions We need the population to help us in getting connected to the sewage collection systems.” The crystal clear springs that feed the Tietê River serve as a reminder that there’s hope for even the dirtiest rivers Managing this important resource so it can serve more people for longer is an ongoing challenge Lu Marini flies the length of one of Brazil’s most industrialised rivers… Lu Marini is a Brazilian TV adventurer with a passion for flight His previous paramotor expeditions have seen him fly 3,000km along the length of Brazil’s coastline looking for a new challenge and a new motivation he alighted upon flying the 1,136km length of the River Tietê in the state of São Paulo The river runs through the city of São Paulo and as a result has earned the title of the most polluted river in Brazil “I decided I wanted to know more about this river and to explore the problems surrounding it and bring those stories to light,” he said “My mission was to fly its entire length.” a quirk of geology means the Tietê flows inland the second largest river in South America after the Amazon The Paraná flows for 4,880km and reaches the sea in Argentina The Tietê has all the problems associated with urban rivers around the world polluted and degraded along every kilometre Brazil’s history of industrialisation can be traced along it as easily as it flows Climbing higher his attention was caught by a car that had been submerged Already within the first kilometre of his journey the visible signs of pollution were everywhere… Lu’s flight took him along the full length of this river into the heart of the land and the people who live along the Tiete The result is a sobering but thought-provoking and at time inspiring article with a message for us all Read the full article in Cross Country May 2015, issue 159 • Got news? Send it to us at news@xccontent.local Subscribe to Cross Country Buy and sell gear on Skyads.aero About 4 billion people experience severe water shortages for at least one month a year and around 1.6 billion people - almost a quarter of the world's population - have problems accessing a clean While the UN's Sustainable Development Goals call for water and sanitation for all by 2030 the world body says water scarcity is increasing and more than half the world's population will be living in water-stressed regions by 2050 In the run-up to the UN's World Water Day on March 22 Reuters photographers used drones to capture dramatic pictures and video of polluted waterways around the world a discarded sofa lies beached in the Tiete river into which hundreds of tonnes of untreated sewage and waste are tipped each day Others show domestic waste clogging the Citarum river in Bandung and sewage flowing into the Euphrates in Najaf a human geographer specialising in environment and development at the University of Portsmouth said many countries with water-intensive agriculture and industry lacked adequate safe drinking water "When we buy products and buy food and clothing we don't always appreciate that we're actually importing somebody else's water and often those countries where we're importing water from they're actually very water-scarce countries," she told Reuters while extending access to water was important maintaining that access in some of the poorest parts of the world was often overlooked "NGOs like to have their photographs taken with a shiny new hand pump .. then they walk away and it's handed over to communities to raise the funds to maintain these systems "The research indicates at any one time one third of hand pumps across Sub-Saharan Africa are broken." PHOTO EDITING MARIKA KOCHIASHVILI; WRITING STUART MCDILL and ALEX RICHARDSON Drainage system waterways around densely-populated Mexico City are heavily polluted with sewage and trash from nearby communities Access to reliable water services is limited in low-income areas Mexico has one of the lowest shares of its population connected to public wastewater treatment plants in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development A University of Manchester report in 2018 found that the River Tame near Denton in Britain had 'the worst' level of micro-plastic pollution ever recorded anywhere in the world at that time One of the legacy promises of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro was the cleanup of Guanabara Bay according to data from state environmental institute Inea The environmental degradation of the water bodies in metropolitan Rio is putting at both local ecosystems and public health at risk Two barges sailed up and down a vast stretch of floating trash on the Potpecko artificial lake in Serbia collecting tons of garbage that almost clogged the dam that crosses it The river Lim which fills the lake is swollen by melting snows and it has carried in more than 20,000 cubic meters of plastics from unregulated dumps along its banks in Serbia As the garbage also threatened the functioning of a hydroelectric plant authorities in Belgrade ordered an immediate clean-up The operators collect up to 100 cubic meters of plastic and other trash daily and take it to a landfill about 80 km (50 miles) away A drain pipe feeds into the Euphrates River carrying sewage made national headlines in 2019 after plastic garbage and organic waste from nearby households completely covered its surface stretching 1.5 kilometers The river has fewer waste after several cleanup operations Water contaminated with raw sewage flows via open channels into the ocean at Hann Bay on the eastern edge of Dakar's peninsula whose sandy shorefront is discoloured by stagnant algae Inadequate sewer infrastructure in the adjacent neighbourhoods of Hann-Bel-air and Mbao means large amounts of solid and liquid waste is released into the bay untreated year-round old tyres lie around a canal filed with putrid water and trash because our families are in direct contact with this water and this waste," said fisherman and local resident Pape Malick Ba the water and sanitation ministry launched a long-promised project to clean up Hann bay at a cost of 93 billion CFA francs ($168 million) they struggle to keep their beaches clean through citizen initiatives You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser or activate Google Chrome Frame to improve your experience The project is the second large-scale solar installation that the hydroelectric company has acquired in Brazil is AES' largest power plant with a capacity of around 1.4 gigawatts a division of AES Brazil — which is itself a subsidiary of US-based power company AES Corporation — has announced that it plans to acquire a 180 MW solar installation The project was selected by the Brazilian government in the sixth reserve energy auction The company said it has closed an agreement with Cobra Brazil for the acquisition of the plant which is located in the municipality of Guaimbê AES Tietê said the total value of the agreement is BRL 650 million ($764.8 million) and that the negotiations will be concluded in two phases the company will issue BRL 460 million of bonds which will be used to finance the construction of the plant the company will invest another BRL 180 million after obtaining a series of authorizations which will sell electricity to the Brazilian grid at a price of BRL 218.85/MWh for a period of 20 years is the second large solar project that AES Tietê has acquired in recent months the company had announced the acquisition of another solar project that had been selected by EPE in a reserve energy auction in December 2015 The company said it was also trying to move its 91 MW Tacaimbó project from the eastern state of Pernambuco to an area near one of its hydroelectric power plants in the state of São Paulo the project will remain in Tacaimbó,” AES Tietê said at the time AES Tietê is a hydroelectric power producer with eight power facilities in the state of São Paulo the company has an installed electrical generating capacity of more than 2.6 GW More articles from Emiliano Bellini Please be mindful of our community standards and website in this browser for the next time I comment Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value" This website uses cookies to anonymously count visitor numbers. View our privacy policy. × The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this Close Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker Historical maps depict the transformations in form and function of rivers now concealed by avenues GUILHERME GAENSLY / IMSThis was the Tietê and the yacht club in São Paulo in 1915.GUILHERME GAENSLY / IMS Eletropaulo collectionA photo of Avenida Leopoldina, the banks of the Pinheiros River, in São Paulo during the February 1929 flood.Eletropaulo collection Public Archives of the State of São Paulo The original and corrected trajectories of the TamanduateíPublic Archives of the State of São Paulo Public Archives of the State of São Paulo The two faces of the Northwest: In 1868, the same region was seen both as “lands occupied by ferocious Indians” in the Atlas do Impêrio do Brasil (Atlas of the Empire of Brazil)…Public Archives of the State of São Paulo Public Archives of the State of São Paulo … and as “unpopulated lands” in the map produced by the Immigration Promotion Society of São PauloPublic Archives of the State of São Paulo Now people are trying to recover a little of the lost landscape As part of the program for improving the ring roads construction of a bike path over the Pinheiros River connecting Cidade Universitária to Parque Villa Lobos the first stage of the Tietê cleanup should be finished It consists of cleaning out and improving the appearance of the river’s tributaries and creeks in eight municipalities near the source of the river—Arujá Biritiba-Mirim and Salesópolis—that are home to about a million people “Getting rid of pollution does not mean simply keeping the sewage out of the rivers,” he says “It’s a complicated operation that also involves restoring the rivers’ flow rate and encouraging people to plant trees as a means of increasing soil permeability in urban areas a study was made about replacing the present open storm drains that allow trash to enter the rivers with grates that would hold back a good part of the waste “It’s no use arguing that the cities and their residents don’t want this.” Costa e Silva intends to launch public campaigns against throwing trash into the rivers—at present environmental education posters are not having any effect given the current discouragement about the situations of the rivers Residents of São Paulo have now mobilized to encourage people to value the city’s creeks and rivers director of the cartographic collection unit of the Public Archive participated in a post-Carnival samba ensemble that paraded along the covered portion of the Água Preta Creek The Tamanduateí River—known as Sete Voltas and used in the 17th century by residents of what was then the town of São Paulo to transport tiles fruits and grains in wooden canoes—is now imprisoned in a narrow bed under the Avenida do Estado one of the most arid parts of the city of São Paulo “The Tamanduateí could have had a bike path and trees “Everyone accepts the idea that São Paulo has to be ugly Now we can reconcile urban development and esthetics.” Project Implementation of geographical information system technology (SIG) in historical research. (13/05444.4); Grant mechanism Regular Line of Research Project Award; Coordinator Luis Antonio Coelho Ferla – Unifesp; Investment R$51,907.60 © Revista Pesquisa FAPESP - All rights reserved Reservoir cascade steadily improves water transparency by retaining matter in suspension that affects light absorption as measured by a study conducted in Brazil (scientist Naiane Bernardo [left] in fieldwork; equipment used to measure radiances and irradiances [right] / photos: Researcher's archive) as measured by a study conducted in Brazil By Elton Alisson | Agência FAPESP – In São Paulo City the Tietê River is polluted by a vast amount of waste but the farther it runs into the interior the better the quality of its water becomes A study by Brazilian researchers at São Paulo State University (UNESP) in Presidente Prudente and São José dos Campos shows that this change in water quality as the river crosses the state is due to filtration by a series of dams along the way passes through the state capital and flows on to São Paulo’s western border The Barra Bonita reservoir retains part of the algae that feed on nitrogen and phosphorus in the sewage the river flows through the turbines and on to the next set of dams filtration of the Tietê by this series of dams allows more light into the water which is oxygenated and converts more organic matter from pollutants into inorganic matter The study was part of a project supported by FAPESP The results were published in the journal Water “We demonstrate that Tietê water quality steadily improves thanks to this reservoir cascade, with exposure to pollution from domestic sewage decreasing as the river flows away from the state capital,” said Enner Herênio de Alcântara a professor at UNESP in São José dos Campos and one of the authors of the study the composition of the organic and inorganic matter in the river changes This affects light absorption in each reservoir,” Alcântara told Agência FAPESP The researchers analyzed the light absorption characteristics of the water in four of the six reservoirs that comprise the Tietê dam cascade: Barra Bonita These reservoirs account for more than 90% of the hydropower generated by the cascade Chemical composition and turbidity vary in accordance with the type of contamination Barra Bonita and Bariri are eutrophic – full of algae Ibitinga (349 km from São Paulo City) is mesotrophic hosting a medium amount of vegetation and with moderately clear water Nova-Avanhandava reservoir at Buritama is oligotrophic with low algal production and transparent water The researchers analyzed water samples collected during fieldwork to measure the levels of organic and inorganic particulate matter Their findings show that Barra Bonita reservoir contains a large volume of algae (phytoplankton) while high levels of dissolved organic carbon are characteristic of Bariri and Ibitinga These two reservoirs also displayed high variability of particle composition between organic and inorganic within any given year in accordance with changes in light absorption measured during the analysis Inorganic matter – minerals and non-carbonated compounds – predominates in the downstream portion of Nova Avanhandava These materials absorb light at different wavelengths Absorption varies in intensity depending on the concentration of optically active components present in the water The balance between the amount of light absorbed and the amount scattered by these materials is reflected in the variations in the color of the Tietê’s water absorb more energy in the blue and red wavelengths causing more scattering at this wavelength This is why the water in reservoirs with large amounts of phytoplankton is dark green “We found that the reservoirs’ total light absorption capacity reflected the level of pollution fairly accurately The vigorous phytoplankton growth due to intense eutrophication interfered most with light absorption in the reservoirs closest to São Paulo The results of the study will contribute to the development of new mathematical and statistical models that can be used to estimate and monitor water quality in the Tietê cascading reservoir system via satellite imaging Because of the variability of light absorption in these reservoirs a mathematical model has yet to be developed to assure precise measurement of water quality parameters for the entire system “The reservoirs contain high levels of pollution so the signals recorded by the sensor on Landsat-8 in space become saturated the model eventually falters and supplies incorrect information,” he explained Landsat-8 is the eighth satellite in the NASA-USGS Landsat Earth observation program and the seventh to reach orbit successfully The on-board sensor for its Operational Land Imager (OLI) enables it to record images at different wavelengths The organic and inorganic materials present on or near the reservoir surface reflect solar radiation back to the sensor at specific wavelengths their distribution in the reservoir can be estimated using these images When the mathematical model for variations in light absorption is applied to the surface reflectance parameters obtained from the images it is possible to estimate the levels of organic and inorganic matter in the water “The Landsat program has produced images since the 1970s Once we’ve validated the mathematical model developed by our group we’ll be able to obtain water quality indicators for the entire Tietê reservoir system in the past 40 years or so,” Alcântara said “On this basis it will be possible to understand the process of deterioration in the Tietê’s water quality during recent decades.” which specializes in hydropower production has bought a project selected by the Brazilian government in the second 2015 auction The compnany is now seeking to transfer the project from Pernambuco to São Paulo which is itself a unit of U.S.-headquartered power company AES Corporation has agreed to acquire a 91 MW solar project in Brazil The project was selected by the Brazilian government-run energy agency Empresa de Pesquisa Energética (EPE) in the energy auction (Leilão de Reserva) for large-scale wind and solar projects held in December 2015 The company said that it is also seeking to transfer the project from Tacaimbó to an area close to one of its hydroelectric power plants “If this request is not accepted,” AES Tietê specified “the project will be maintained in Tacaimbó.” AES Tietê has agreed to acquire the project from European Energy AS The project cost is estimated at around 300 million BRL ($96.0 million) which must be built and connected to the grid by the end of 2018 will sell its power output to the local grid at a price of 291.75 BRL ($93.2) / MWh Completion of the project is scheduled for the beginning of November AES Tietê is a hydropower producer which owns eight power facilities in the state of São Paulo The company currently has an installed power generation capacity of more than 2.6 GW is the company’s largest power plant with a capacity of around 1.4 GW We're sorry but the page you're looking for is not on our website Environmental PollutionCitation Excerpt :These same chemical classes were identified by Zhang (2018) as the most consumed insecticides and fungicides worldwide Among 201 pesticides identified in the present review a very restrictive economic block regarding the use of pesticides (Abdullah et al. 35 were identified in studies carried out in Belgium (Toumi et al. two of which (dinotefuran and isocarbophos) were never allowed in the EU Current Opinion in Environmental Science and HealthCitation Excerpt :Okoffo et al [31] indicated that 20% of the farmers in Ghana did not use PPE during pesticide applications [40] reported that workers in greenhouses had higher risk of pesticide exposure workers must use PPE during pesticide application in the greenhouse BROKEN BOW — Storms have been known to beat down a crop has faced some heart-wrenching storms through her 65 years of life was 12 years old when the first tragedy struck Not long after returning home from Sunday evening church service in the nearby village of Lollum Jan Van Der Meulen turned in for the night The 40-year-old dairy farmer planned to milk the next morning and bale hay later on in the day Lycklama's story is a combination not only of contributions to agriculture came to the United States with a small amount of money to back their dream of operating their own business on a rundown dairy farm in east Texas such as making payments following horrible crops They established a successful dairy in Mount Vernon and then moved to and began a dairy in Mount Pleasant where they operated a beef cattle and row-crop farm The next move was to Arizona where the Lycklamas had a cattle ranch and irrigated alfalfa hay fields the family sold that ranch and returned to Oklahoma with more than 3,500 acres of intensively managed loblolly pine on their ranch in southeastern Oklahoma's McCurtain County “Tiete has worn many hats in many different roles to have successful ag businesses in different regions leaving family and friends in Holland,” son-in-law Daniel Lewia said “Her never-quit attitude and desire to make the right decisions on their land has helped them to become successful ag producers.” she has been “very supportive” of Log A Load for Kids an annual campaign which began when loggers and others in the forest products community donated the value of a load of logs to their local Children's Miracle Network hospital “She has also contributed to the Forest Heritage Center in Broken Bow both financially and by participating in events over the past decade,” Lewia said just as there were storms in her childhood and challenges in her early adulthood the unthinkable storm pounded their lives on Sunday in late February were boating on the Little River near Idabel Tiete said they struck an object in the water “Life hasn't been easy and I know a lot of people go through a lot,” Tiete said “but God has been faithful and we thank God that we're going to see them again.” opportunity has been a key word for the Lycklamas “a big farm.” Because there was no room for expansion the decision was made to move to Texas and start a dairy there “The little that we had was from when the home sold,” she said “That was almost nothing when you are buying a little dairy that was so run down We bought the dairy for real little money with real little payments He (Tsjerk) built it up and then when we went to Mount Pleasant we had 400 cows or more.” they moved to Valliant and ranched there and raised some crops selling to different dairies in New Mexico Then it was back to Oklahoma where they have remained “Ag has created opportunities for Tiete,” Lewia “Opportunities to work hard and reap the rewards of that hard work and to teach her family the value of hard work and determination Opportunities to learn about new ag options besides dairy farming They had to learn about their new ventures and how to best run those businesses She has also done a wonderful job of educating her family and others about what ag really means to everyone.” also an acclaimed watercolor and oil artist She was asked what the next opportunity in her life might bring “I want my grandchildren to go on with and enjoy it,” said Tiete “I've really prayed that one or two of the boys can take it over some day That approach helps her weather the days of blue skies as well as those of storms that may beat you down Bryan Painter is with the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture Sudden release of water from a dam has created foam from chemicals and wastewater that had accumulated over months on the river's bed Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Get our news on your inbox! Suscribe x MercoPress, en Español Montevideo, May 5th 2025 - 13:34 UTC fertilizer and other agricultural products has reopened after a 20-month closure due to drought and the use of water for electricity  On Monday a barge train passed downstream on the Tiete River through the locks at the Nova Avanhandava hydro-dam for the first time since 2014 The barges will later head to Sao Simao in Brazil's central western state of Goias where they are expected to load soybeans which will taken for export from the Port of Santos on the Atlantic coast near Sao Paulo Brazil's agricultural output is only rivaled by the United States but its underdeveloped and expensive transport infrastructure is the country's main barrier to raising its share of world exports 3 exporter of corn and a major exporter of cotton Water that could have helped maintain river and canal levels was used instead for electricity due to rising energy demand and the delay of giant new power projects came critically close to running out of drinking water Rains at the end of 2015 intensified in January helping water levels on rivers in Brazil's southeast and central-west to recover from one of the worst droughts in decades The Tiete-Parana's closure forced more of Brazil's production from the key farming states of Sao Paulo Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul onto more expensive and precarious road and rail systems each of the Tiete-Parana system's barge trains can carry the equivalent of 200 highway trucks according the Sao Paulo's waterway authority Another barge train was expected to pass up the Tiete through the Nova Avanhandava locks destined for Santos on Tuesday Commenting for this story is now closed.If you have a Facebook account, become a fan and comment on our Facebook Page SAO PAULO — Large billows of pollution-filled foam are once again choking part of the Tiete river that cuts through a small city in south-eastern Brazil A general view of the polluted Tiete River filled with foam in Pirapora do Bom Jesus huge amounts of white foam cover part of the river and many of the streets of Pirapora do Bom Jesus The foam is caused by household detergents dumped into the river as well as untreated water and sewage that flow into the Tiete during the Southern Hemisphere’s dry winter With less water the concentration of pollutants grows Residents complain the foul smelling foam stains clothes and damages the paint on cars The Sao Paulo State Health Department did not respond to an email yesterday (June 24) asking about any health hazards from the foam Todayonline.com and Today Online domains and apps are now part of 'Channelnewsasia.com' domain We know it's a hassle to switch browsers but we want your experience with TODAY to be fast Upgraded but still having issues? 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