SAN SALVADOR – El Salvador declared a water shortage emergency for the first time in its history on Thursday, citing the effects of climate change and the El Niño phenomenon, the country’s president said.
In the last four years, rainfall has decreased considerably in the Central American country, and river and water reserve levels have reached a critical state, President Salvador Sanchez Ceren said at a news conference.
In recent weeks, residents from neighborhoods on the outskirts of the capital city of San Salvador have protested because of water shortages in their communities.
Countries across Central America declared an agricultural alert last year as a result of the severe drought which has affected some 1.6 million people in the region, in particular growers of coffee, corn and beans.
Detroit began collecting water samples at 62 elementary and elementary-middle schools the week of March 28.
Results from the remaining 20 or so buildings, which include middle and high schools, are expected one to two weeks after testing is finished this month, the district said.
The district said the levels of lead and copper found in water samples taken from student drinking fountains and kitchen food-preparation sinks inside 19 schools rose above safety thresholds established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
