Amazon River Water Being Stolen for Bottling

Just when you think water bottlers can’t get any worse, there’s this news …

From Treehugger:

A recently published report is exposing some shocking exploitation of the Amazon’s natural resources–and this times it’s water being stolen. Where is this water headed? According to the report, “tankers are quietly removing water” to be bottled and sold in Europe and the Middle East. This is coming at a time when regions of the northern Amazon region have been experiencing a devastating drought that threatens the livelihoods of its people. This burgeoning crime is known as hydro-piracy, and it could foreshadow a future of resource wars as clean water supplies become scarce.

Not only does this sound ridiculously shady, but it’s also illegal under Brazilian law. So how are they getting away with it?

The report discloses a new method being implemented to illegally export the Amazon River which may be more efficient for hydro-piracy. Instead of their internal tanks, large bags are being filled with freshwater and towed back across the Atlantic.

Journalist Von Erick Farfan was one of the first to point out the ongoing exploitation of the Amazon’s water. He says that scientists and the Brazilian authorities were informed that oil tankers are replenishing their reservoirs in the Amazon River before leaving the national waters, according to EcoAgencia, but lacked the ‘formal’ complaint required to prompt any action.

This should be cause for great concern. As water scarcity increases across the globe, places like the Amazon which has a quarter of the world’s fresh water, will be a prime target for exploitation. Unfortunately, we’re likely to be hearing more and about “hydro-piracy” in the years to come.