Historically the surrounding forests and wetlands of São Paulo have soaked up rain and released it into the reservoir, but the destruction of these areas are causing the reservoir to dry up, contributing to the drought. Even the deforestation in the Amazon River basin hundreds of miles away may also be adding to the water crisis; cutting the forest reduces its capacity to release humidity into the air, diminishing rainfall in southeast Brazil. The city’s surging population growth in the 20th century has also contributed to the draught, as the population grows so does the demand of clean water. A chronically leaky system that spills vast amounts of this water before it can even reach homes is also worsening the crisis: more than 30 percent
