{"id":564393,"date":"2026-07-23T14:47:20","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T14:47:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/564393\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T14:47:20","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T14:47:20","slug":"why-safe-water-is-still-lacking-in-the-marajo-archipelago-one-of-the-worlds-most-water-abundant-regions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/564393\/","title":{"rendered":"Why safe water is still lacking in the Maraj\u00f3 Archipelago, one of the world\u2019s most water-abundant regions"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the Brazilian Amazon<\/a>, water is not simply a natural resource. For many rural communities, it shapes mobility, livelihoods, food systems, and everyday life. In the Amazon River delta, the Maraj\u00f3 Archipelago<\/a> \u2013 the world\u2019s largest fluvio-marine archipelago \u2013 rivers, floodplains, and wetlands are deeply intertwined with the ways people inhabit and experience the territory. Yet, despite living in one of the most water-abundant regions on Earth<\/a>, thousands of families still lack access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation.<\/p>\n

This paradox is not simply a consequence of environmental conditions. It reflects political choices about infrastructure, territorial investment, and water governance.<\/p>\n

Abundance of water, lack of infrastructure<\/p>\n

This contradiction reflects a broader structural problem in the Brazilian Amazon.<\/p>\n

Although northern Brazil holds a significant share of the country\u2019s freshwater resources, around 6.5\u00a0million people in the region still lack access to treated water. At the same time, nearly 15\u00a0million live without sewage collection services.<\/p>\n

In Par\u00e1 \u2013 the state where Maraj\u00f3 is located, sanitation indicators are among the
\nworst in Brazil. Data from Brazil\u2019s National Sanitation Information System<\/a> (SNIS) show that less than 10% of the state\u2019s population is connected to sewage systems.<\/p>\n

Across many rural communities in the archipelago, families still rely on shallow wells, improvised rainwater storage systems, or untreated river water for daily consumption.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hand-dug wells are among the strategies used by quilombola communities to cope with water insecurity in Maraj\u00f3. The existence of these local solutions highlights the contrast between living in a region surrounded by water and facing limitations in accessing adequate water for consumption and domestic use. Salvaterra (PA)\/2025.
\n Monique Medeiros, Author provided (no reuse)<\/p>\n

The problem extends far beyond water scarcity. It is shaped by unequal access to clean drinking water, chronic sanitation deficits, and competing claims over how water resources are used and governed. While traditional communities have historically faced limited public investment in water and sanitation infrastructure, water-intensive economic activities<\/a> \u2013 such as the expansion of irrigated rice farming<\/a> in the grassland areas of Maraj\u00f3 \u2013 continue to advance across the territory, deepening disputes over who has the right to water.<\/p>\n

Sanitation, territorial inequality, and rural communities<\/p>\n

In the Amazon, water insecurity is shaped less by the absence of water than by the
\nabsence of infrastructure capable of capturing, treating and distributing it safely. This challenge is particularly acute in rural and riverine territories, where sanitation systems remain limited and public investment has historically been concentrated in urban centres.<\/p>\n

Approximately 42.6% of the population in northern Brazil lacks access to safe
\ndrinking water, despite the region concentrating most of the country\u2019s freshwater availability. In the north of Brazil, around 1.53\u00a0million people \u2013 roughly 8% of the population \u2013 live in households without an exclusive bathroom. These indicators, from Instituto Trata Brasil<\/a>, reveal some of the country\u2019s deepest sanitation inequalities.<\/p>\n

Geography further intensifies these vulnerabilities. Seasonal flooding can contaminate wells and household water storage systems, while drought periods increasingly affect water quality and availability. <\/p>\n

In estuarine territories such as the Maraj\u00f3 Archipelago, tidal variation and salinisation create additional challenges for securing safe drinking water<\/a> throughout the year.<\/p>\n

Climate change may deepen inequalities<\/p>\n

Climate change is likely to intensify existing water inequalities<\/a> across the Amazon, including in Maraj\u00f3. In recent years, the Brazilian Amazon has experienced record-breaking heatwaves<\/a>, prolonged droughts and increasingly unpredictable hydrological cycles<\/a>. Historic droughts<\/a> in 2023 and 2024 disrupted river transportation, isolated rural communities and reduced water availability across northern Brazil.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

In quilombola communities in Salvaterra, access to water often depends on local arrangements and infrastructures built by the families themselves. The raised wooden platform with a tap is part of everyday practices involving multiple uses of water, revealing how the abundance of water in Maraj\u00f3 does not necessarily translate into guaranteed access to safe water. Salvaterra (PA)\/2026.
\n Monique Medeiros, Fourni par l’auteur<\/p>\n

In 2024, Brazil\u2019s National Water and Basic Sanitation Agency<\/a> (ANA) declared incidents of water scarcity in major Amazonian river basins, including the Tapaj\u00f3s, Xingu, Madeira and Purus rivers. Extreme droughts and floods disrupted transportation, food supply systems and local access to water in many rural communities across the region.<\/p>\n

The impacts were also felt across the Maraj\u00f3 Archipelago. During recent climate
\nextremes, municipalities such as Muan\u00e1, Portel, Bagre, Anaj\u00e1s, Ponta de Pedras, and
\nSanta Cruz do Arari declared states of emergency associated with severe drought
\nconditions, while Cachoeira do Arari experienced emergencies linked to both drought and flooding events in different years.<\/p>\n

These events illustrate how climate change interacts with longstanding infrastructure deficits and territorial inequalities, amplifying existing vulnerabilities across the archipelago. Water insecurity in Maraj\u00f3 is therefore shaped not only by environmental variability, but also by the unequal capacity of communities and institutions to respond to climatic extremes.<\/p>\n

More than a resource: Maraj\u00f3\u2019s many ways of living with water<\/p>\n

In Maraj\u00f3, water is far more than a natural resource.<\/p>\n

Rivers, floodplains, and wetlands are sources of drinking water, transportation routes, fishing grounds, ecological habitats, and spaces where cultural practices, livelihoods, and community relations are continuously reproduced. Different social groups relate to water in distinct ways, reflecting broader debates about development, territorial governance, and the future of the Amazon.<\/p>\n

Livestock production has historically shaped the occupation of the Maraj\u00f3 Archipelago. Buffalo and cattle ranching, adapted to seasonal floodplain dynamics, remain central to the regional economy and to the landscape itself. Seasonal water cycles determine grazing areas, mobility patterns, and the organisation of extensive ranching systems across the islands (Medeiros; Souza e Nelson, 2026<\/a>)<\/p>\n

More recently, irrigated rice farming<\/a> has expanded rapidly across the grassland areas of eastern Maraj\u00f3, especially in municipalities such as Cachoeira do Arari and Salvaterra.<\/p>\n

This model depends on canals, pumps, and irrigation systems connected to the Arari
\nRiver basin. According to FAO estimates, producing one kilogram of rice may require between 1,000 and 3,000 litres of water<\/a>, while environmental reports from the region indicate that some irrigation systems withdraw around 2,000 litres of water per second from local rivers during cultivation periods (Medeiros; Souza, 2025<\/a>).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

A Bacurizeiro tree in agribusiness rice fields overlapping quilombola territory in Salvaterra, Maraj\u00f3. For local families, the tree represents the resilience of the relationships between nature, memory, and territory. Salvaterra (PA)\/2025.
\n Monique Medeiros, Fourni par l’auteur<\/p>\n

For producers and agricultural organizations, these activities are associated with
\nmodernisation, productivity, and regional economic growth. Maraj\u00f3\u2019s extensive floodplains and abundant water availability are frequently presented as favourable
\nconditions for expanding agribusiness<\/a> in the region.<\/p>\n

For quilombola and riverine communities, however, water is also inseparable from
\nfishing, mobility, local food systems, and collective territorial practices shaped over generations (Medeiros; Souza, 2025). Seasonal flooding cycles impact everyday life, while rivers and streams connect communities socially, economically, and culturally.<\/p>\n

These different perspectives coexist in the same territory, but they prioritise water in different ways. In this context, water becomes more than a natural resource; it becomes part of broader debates about development, infrastructure, territorial governance, and the future of the Amazon.<\/p>\n

In this context, water governance becomes more than an environmental challenge. It
\nalso reflects political decisions about infrastructure, territorial planning, and whose needs and livelihoods are prioritised in responses to climate change.<\/p>\n

Water is embedded in social, economic and ecological relations<\/p>\n

The situated experience of Maraj\u00f3 reveals that water insecurity in the Amazon is not simply the result of environmental scarcity. In one of the most water-abundant regions on Earth, unequal access to safe water emerges through the interactions between infrastructure, territorial governance, development priorities, and everyday relations with water. Rather than a paradox of nature, it reflects the social and political processes through which water is governed, distributed, and lived.<\/p>\n

The archipelago also demonstrates that water is embedded in social, economic and
\necological relations that sustain livelihoods, mobility, and territorial identities. At the same time, these waters are increasingly incorporated into projects of agricultural expansion and economic development, generating tensions over how water should be used, by whom, and for what purposes.<\/p>\n

Climate change could well intensify these tensions. More frequent droughts, irregular flooding, and growing pressure on fragile ecosystems may deepen existing inequalities, particularly in territories where public infrastructure remains limited and institutional capacity for climate adaptation is weak. In this context, water governance becomes inseparable from broader questions of climate justice<\/a>, territorial rights, and social equity.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Buckets used for bathing in a quilombola community in Salvaterra. The presence of these containers in everyday domestic life highlights water storage and management practices in response to limitations in water supply infrastructure. Salvaterra (PA)\/2026.
\n Monique Medeiros, Author provided (no reuse)<\/p>\n

What people in Maraj\u00f3 are experiencing also shows that responses to water insecurity cannot be reduced to technical solutions alone. Access to water is shaped by the ways people inhabit, use, and govern their territories, as well as by the historical patterns of investment and exclusion that define who benefits from infrastructure and public services. Understanding water insecurity, therefore, requires attention not only to environmental conditions but also to the social relations, power dynamics, and development choices that shape access to water in everyday life.<\/p>\n

The disputes surrounding water in Maraj\u00f3 are ultimately disputes about the future of the Amazon itself. They raise questions about whose needs are prioritised, whose ways of living with water are recognised and supported, and which development pathways receive political attention and public investment. As global debates on climate justice and environmental governance advance, Maraj\u00f3 offers an important reminder: even in places defined by water abundance, access to safe and secure water remains profoundly unequal. Addressing these inequalities requires approaches that acknowledge the multiple meanings of water and the diverse realities of Amazonian territories, where water is not only a resource to be managed but also a fundamental element of social life, territorial belonging, and collective futures.<\/p>\n

This article draws on Monique Medeiros\u2019 ongoing research on water governance and territorial inequalities in the Maraj\u00f3 Archipelago. It is also informed by her work within the socio-environmental component of AmazonFACE<\/a>, a large-scale interdisciplinary research initiative that investigates how climate change affects Amazonian ecosystems and the communities that depend on them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the Brazilian Amazon, water is not simply a natural resource. For many rural communities, it shapes mobility,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":564394,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[246,61,60,82],"class_list":["post-564393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=564393"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564393\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/564394"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=564393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=564393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=564393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}