we look at that now from soo paulo. >> this is a reserve viewer providing water to 9 million people in sao paulo and 50 other municipalities, you can see how low the levels are. the water normally would cover up to the base of where the tree lines are. you can see how low it is. they are currently at 19% capacity. that is the lowest in recorded history. if you look on the ground, you can get a good sense of it as well. normally the entire area is covered in water, but it's not. so the ground has been turned into clumps of dry dirt. i spoke to a local sports fisherman who has been coming down here for years. he has seen nothing like that before. >> translation: in the past few months the water level has gone down. i'm sitting fishing, but i sit here as the water goes down lower. >> how did sao paulo find itself in this situation - there has been a lot of heat and little rain. to give you an idea, on average the state receives about 259 millimetres of rain in the month of january. last month they received 87 millimetres. combine that with the fact that the state has gone through one of i