Cconchaccota lagoon dries up in southern Andes, Peru

Problems

• The Cconchaccota lagoon, located 4,100 meters above sea level, has been a vital source of water, food, and beauty for the local communities in Peru's southern Andes. The lagoon attracted migratory flamingos, provided trout fishing, and watered sheep and crops. However, the lagoon has completely dried up due to the worst drought in almost 50 years, affecting more than 3,000 communities in the region.

• Extreme dryness and high solar radiation

  The absence of rain in part of the Andes occurs due to the La Niña phenomenon, present in 2022 for the third consecutive year, according to the United Nations Meteorological Agency.
  
  The area is experiencing extreme dryness and high solar radiation, which evaporates any moisture from the soil. The lack of rain has also delayed the planting of potatoes, the only crop that grows in the area, leading to food insecurity and malnutrition. The animals are dying or emaciated from thirst and hunger.
  
  Peru's population is 45% Indigenous peoples, and the Andes region is home to the largest Indigenous population in the country. The prolonged drought has devastated many of these groups, who have suffered crop and animal losses thanks to the lack of water.
  
  But for climate experts, the lagoon could have dried up because it was less than a meter deep, depended exclusively on rainwater, and was under strong solar radiation.
  
  The residents have no drinking water, sewage, or telephone service. They depend on a nearby spring that sometimes runs dry as well. They have appealed to the local authorities for help but received a delayed response of fodder oats for the surviving livestock. Some residents have used social media to raise awareness of their situation and demand more assistance.
  
  According to a United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, the Andes is one of the world's most sensitive regions to climate migrations because of droughts, tropical storms and hurricanes, heavy rains, and floods.
  
  Peru is one of the countries that may have many people moving elsewhere due to climate change, as droughts, floods, sea level rise, and other impacts ravage its coastline and interior ecosystems. The UN estimates that more than 600,000 people left Peru between 2008 and 2019 because of natural disasters, and levels of climate migrants could reach "unprecedented levels" by the end of the century.