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Ecuador went dark last night in the first of several country-wide blackouts caused by critically low levels in a hydro-power system that provides 70 per cent of its electricity. Until at least Thursday, electricity will be cut off between 10pm and 6am for up to four consecutive hours. Ecuador hasn’t seen rain for over two months. Water levels in its reservoirs are at an all-time low, hindering the operations of hydropower plants. Colombia – which used to supply energy to Ecuador until a couple of years ago – has had to cut exports because of droughts. Water shortages have already led to rationing in Ecuador’s capital, Quito, and in fifteen provinces, and Peru, Brazil and Bolivia have also been hit by prolonged droughts leading to forest wildfires and critically low water levels in the Amazon basin. The October rainy season cannot come too soon.
