Severe drought drops water level to historic low on the Paraguay River, a regional lifeline

ASUNCIÓN, Paraguay (AP) — A powerful drought in Brazil's Pantanal region led on Monday to the lowest water levels on the Paraguay River in more than a century, disrupting commerce on the major waterway, creating hazards for local transport and offering a grim warning for other parts of the world.

Paraguay's Department of Meteorology and Hydrology reported that water levels on the country's namesake river, a regional economic lifeline, dipped 89 centimeters (35 inches) below the meter's benchmark at the port of Asunción, the capital, the lowest point in 120 years.

The previous record-breaking drop occurred just three years ago, in October 2021 — a sign, experts say, of how droughts that starve the region's waterways are becoming more frequent and intense. The Amazon — the world’s most voluminous river — and one of its main tributaries, the Madeira River, have also registered new daily record lows at the city of Tabatinga.

The most immediate effect is being felt across landlocked Paraguay, one of the world’s leading exporters of agricultural commodities, which relies on the river to move 80% of its international commerce.

The head of Paraguay’s fishing union said Monday that the decline in water levels has put 1,600 fishermen out of work. On Monday, dozens of boats that would normally ply the waterway sat on bone-dry banks of sand.

“I have no way out,” said Fermín Giménez, a sailor who became trapped Monday as the river literally dried up beneath his small barge. “It's a disaster.”

Originating in Brazil, the Paraguay-Paraná waterway runs 3,400 kilometers (about 2,110 miles) through Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia and into the open seas, making the region a vital transport hub for grain, corn, soy and other agricultural products.

In the last few days, disruptions have rippled from Paraguay across neighboring countries, with more than half of the river's shipping capacity halted or tied up in delays, according to Paraguay’s main shipping association. Only so much can be loaded onto cargo ships without the risk of getting stuck along the river’s shallow parts, it said.

That has created expensive headaches in countries including Brazil, which exports iron ore along the river, and Bolivia, which has been forced to reroute badly needed fuel shipments via a slower overland path. Paraguay, which relies on the river to generate electricity, also faces the eventual possibility of cuts in supply, said Raúl Valdez, president of Paraguay’s Center of River and Maritime Shipowners.

With no rainfall expected in the coming weeks, industry officials said there's no relief in sight. They anticipate losses in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

“Our main question is, will this now be a new pattern? No one is expecting a quick recovery,” Valdez said. “It’s a major concern for the whole region.”

Experts said the drying of the Paraguay River — as with other rivers from Colorado to France to Brazil's Amazon — reflects how population growth, climate change and deforestation have increasingly conspired with weak governance and inefficient irrigation practices to transform landscapes, upending delicate ecosystems and sending scores of communities scrambling for fresh water.

“All over we are seeing increases in droughts; they are longer, more intense, more frequent and more difficult to recover from,” said Rachael McDonnell, deputy director-general for research at the International Water Management Institute.

As rainfall becomes more erratic and the warming climate intensifies the cycles of flood and drought, McDonnell added, “we've lost the slack in the system."

With Brazil in the grips of the worst drought since since nationwide measurements began over seven decades ago, wildfires are also raging further downstream, in the forests along Paraguay’s northeast border with Brazil, where residents said Monday the air smelled of acrid smoke, and in parts of Bolivia, where the government has declared a national emergency.

DeBre reported from Montevideo, Uruguay.

A tugboat pushes a barge with a light load across the Paraguay River in Mariano R. Alonso, Paraguay, Monday, Sept. 9, 2024. Water levels have plunged to their lowest-ever level amid a drought, according to Paraguay's Meteorology and Hydrology Office. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)

A man fishes on the shore of the Paraguay River where a tugboat pushes a barge amid low water levels and a drought in Mariano Roque Alonso, Paraguay, Monday, Sept. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)

A man fishes on the shore of the Paraguay River in Mariano R. Alonso, Paraguay, Monday, Sept. 9, 2024. Water levels have plunged to their lowest-ever level amid a drought, according to Paraguay's Meteorology and Hydrology Office. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)

A tugboat pushes a barge under the Remanso bridge on the Paraguay River in Mariano R. Alonso, Paraguay, Monday, Sept. 9, 2024. Water levels have plunged to their lowest-ever level amid a drought, according to Paraguay's Meteorology and Hydrology Office. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)

Fishing boats sit on the shore of the Paraguay River in Mariano Roque Alonso, Paraguay, Monday, Sept. 9, 2024. Water levels have plunged to their lowest-ever level amid a drought, according to Paraguay's Meteorology and Hydrology Office. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)

AVIGNON, France (AP) — A man accused of drugging his then-wife and inviting dozens of men to rape her over nearly a decade is testifying in court on Tuesday in southern France, in a case that has shocked the country.

Dominique Pélicot, now 71, faces 20 years in prison if convicted. While he previously confessed to investigators, the court testimony will be crucial for the panel of judges to decide on the fate of some 50 other men standing trial next to him, all accused of raping Gisèle Pélicot.

Many also hope his testimony will shed some light — to try to understand the unthinkable.

Gisèle Pélicot, who has become a symbol of the fight against sexual violence in France for agreeing to waive her anonymity in the case and let the trial be public, is expected to speak in court after her ex-husband's testimony on Tuesday.

Bernadette Tessonière, a 69-year-old retiree who lives a half-hour drive from Avignon, where the trial is taking place, arrived outside the courthouse at 7:15 a.m. to make sure she would secure a seat in the closely watched case.

“How is it possible that in 50 years of communal life, one can live next to someone who hides his life so well? This is scary,” she said, while standing in a line outside the courthouse. “I don’t have much hope that what he did can be explained, but he is at least going to give some elements.”

Pélicot’s much-awaited testimony was delayed by days after he fell ill, suffering from a kidney stone and urinary infection, his lawyers said.

A security agent caught Pélicot in 2020 taking videos under women’s skirts in a supermarket, according to court documents. Police searched Pélicot's house and electronic devices, and found thousands of photos and videos of men engaging in sexual acts with Gisèle Pélicot while she appears to lie unconscious on their bed.

With the recordings, police were able to track down a majority of the 72 suspects they were seeking.

She and her husband of 50 years had three children. When they retired, the couple left the Paris region to move into a house in Mazan, a small town in Provence.

When police officers called her in for questioning in late 2020, she initially told them her husband was “a great guy,'' according to legal documents. They then showed her some photos. She left her husband and they are now divorced.

Besides Pélicot, 50 other men, aged 26 to 74, are standing trial. Many deny having raped Pélicot, saying they were manipulated by her ex-husband or claiming they believed she was consenting.

FILE - Gisele Pelicot speaks to media as she leaves the Avignon court house, southern France, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly, File)

FILE - Gisele Pelicot, left, arrives in the Avignon court house, in Avignon, southern France, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly, File)

FILE - Gisele Pelicot, left, arrives in the Avignon court house, in Avignon, southern France, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly, File)