Dear authors, I am glad for the appearance of this kind of articles in PeerJ, because it is obviously important to increase our knowledge about the evolution of the drinking water resources, an issue that concerns to all the living organisms, including human beans. I live in Uruguay and it was a surprise to see that the article emphasizes that my country will be one of such countries that contrarily to what will happen in our giant neighbors Brazil and Argentina, will increase the drinking water resources. At the end of 2020 and part of 2021 all the main rivers of the La Plata River Basin became almost dry at the same time, an event not seen before. Many hydrogeologists had advised about the excessive pumping of groundwater for agricultural irrigation and other productive projects, which highly overpass the aquifers recharge, and this matter appears to be one of the most important causes of the droughts detected around the world by previous workers. Unfortunately, Uruguay does not escape that reality.
Considering that the Uruguayan territory, as well as those of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay, is beneficed with the water of the Guaraní Aquifer System, which feeds all the superficial waters belonging to the great Rio de la Plata Basin, I would like to know, if possible, which criteria were used in your paper to arrive to such a different conclusion exclusively for Uruguay. Congratulations for your paper and thanks in advance for any answer or comments. Best regards, Graciela Piñeiro