THE Negro river, the Amazon’s second-largest tributary, on Monday reportedly reached its lowest level since official measurements began near the city of Manaus, 121 years ago. 

The record confirms that this part of the world’s largest rainforest is suffering its worst drought, just a little over two years after its most significant flooding.

The water level in the city’s port went as low as 13.5 metres, down from the 30 metres registered in June 2021 — its highest level on record. 

The Negro river drains about 10 per cent of the Amazon basin and is the world’s sixth-largest by water volume.

Madeira river, another main tributary of the Amazon, has also recorded historically low levels, causing the halt of the Santo Antonio hydro-electric dam, Brazil’s fourth-largest.

Throughout Brazil’s Amazon, low river levels have left hundreds of riverine communities isolated and struggling to get access to drinkable water. 

The drought also has disrupted commercial navigation that supplies Manaus, a city of two million with a large industrial park.

Manaus is the largest city and capital of Amazonas, the state hit hardest by the drought. In late September, 55 of 62 municipalities there entered states of emergency due to the severe drought.

Boatman Cledson Lopes Brasil said: “There is no more water to go through. Navigation is over.”

Mr Brasil operates in Marina do Davi port, a getaway to dozens of riverine communities, some of them with sandy beaches that attract tourists. The once bustling area is now surrounded by parched soil, with many boathouses high and dry.

Philip Fearnside, a researcher at the Brazilian National Institute of Amazonian Research, expects the situation to deteriorate.

He said: “The forecast is for the start of the rains to be delayed compared to normal, and for a drier-than-normal rainy season.

“This could result not only in extreme low water this year, but also low levels in 2024.”