2014–2017 Brazilian drought

[1][2] The metropolis of São Paulo appeared to be affected the most and by the beginning of February many of its residents were subjected to sporadic water cutoffs.

[3] Rain at the end of 2015 and in early 2016 brought relief, however, long term problems in water supply remain in São Paulo state.

[1][11] With major reservoirs operating at their lowest capacity (the main reservoir system of Cantareira supplying São Paulo being at only 6% of its capacity in early February[1][12]) officials at São Paulo warned about extended rationing as water may run out before the next rainy season in November 2015.

[18] In 2017, the rains remained extremely irregular in Minas Gerais,[19] Espírito Santo[20] and most parts of the regions Central-West and Northeast.

[1] Past reports by scientists, environmentalists and technical experts were overridden by real estate developers and industrial and agricultural interests.

[22] Rainfall was well below the climatological average in most of Southeast and Southern Brazil after October 2013, and cities such as Porto Alegre, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro experienced record heat in February 2014.

The lack of clouds and intense sunshine also left the sea temperature on the Southeast coast around 3 °C above average in the 2013–2014 summer,[26] which was considered the hottest and driest in Brazil in 71 years.

With the absence of precipitation, associated with high temperatures and low relative humidity, damage to agriculture and water supply began to be recorded,[27][28] in addition to a reduction in the level of reservoirs of hydroelectric plants.

[31] In 2015 coffee trees had not recovered from the extreme heat and drought quick enough, triggering another arabica price rally.

[34] Analysts see the crisis as a relatively short-term stressor but believe that it has the potential to be the "catalyst" to solve specifically São Paulo's water problems.

Thus, a new 15 km connection has been authorised to be built to bring water from the Paraiba do Sul river basin to the Cantareira system, watersheds that have distinct aquatic biota.

The Cantareira reservoir was at 6.8% capacity at the start of 2018, even after several afternoons of violent summer rainstorms in São Paulo.