Problems
The Choqueyapu, sometimes called the La Paz River, is a river in the La Paz Department of Bolivia. It belongs to the drainage basin of the Amazon. The river originates in a spring called Achachi Qala in the Cordillera Real near the mountain Chacaltaya at the height of 5,395 m. It crosses the city of La Paz from north to south. It turns south of Illimani, and north of the Kimsa Cruz mountain range, it turns to the east; at this point, it is better known as the La Paz River. The confluence with the Cotacajes River is the beginning of the Beni River.
Causes of water pollution in La Paz
Unfortunately, the La Paz River in Bolivia is known for its high water pollution levels, primarily due to industrial and domestic waste being dumped into the river. Bolivia's metropolia La Paz and El Alto live on the edge of multiple water crises. Water suppliers struggle to keep pace with their rapid population growth. Its overall supply is dependent on glacial melt water. The city’s principal river, the Choqueyapu, is a site of dramatic pollution. La Paz’s water pollution has many causes, from industrial waste, riverside slaughterhouses, and urban runoff mining waste to inadequate water treatment. The La Paz River is known to be contaminated with sewage, with enteropathogenic bacteria, which is believed to contribute to the high incidence of diarrheal disease in La Paz. Like many environmental matters, this is a slow-motion crisis with no end.
Pollution of the Katari River
The Katari River is one of the most polluted in the department of La Paz, as it collects wastewater and garbage from the cities of El Alto and Viacha. Its basin's water and soil quality has deteriorated due to urban, industrial, mining, and livestock activity. Dumping solid and liquid waste into the basin's rivers leaves large amounts of chemical and biological contaminants. The levels of eutrophication of Lake Titicaca exceed its capacity for regeneration. Pollution has led to a loss of environmental quality in urban areas and a reduction in agricultural productivity in rural areas, which in turn deteriorates the quality of life and health of small producers and their families. Threatens whole communities' physical and cultural survival since pollution affects fishing and agriculture. Activities that are central to Indigenous livelihoods and cultures. “We lived on what came from Lake Titicaca, on the fish, on the birds that lay eggs, on the reeds. Now, as the river is polluted, so are our pastures. We have lost everything, has died,” says Don Braulio Laruta, Secretary General of the Tiquipa community. In recent years, the river flow has increased during the rainy season and flooded the land, affecting crops and livestock. The overflow of the contaminated waters of the Katari also damages another river, the Allita Jawiram, located in the community of Tiquipa. In this way, the Katari River not only cuts off access to cultivation areas but also degrades the livelihoods of the Aymara community. Pollution of the Katari River can seriously impact the environment and the health of people and animals who depend on the river.
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Timelines
2021
The Tiquipa (La Paz, Bolivia) received a grant from the Keepers of the Earth Fund, an Indigenous-led fund at Cultural Survival designed to support Indigenous Peoples’ advocacy and community development projects globally.
2017
The capital, La Paz, suffered a further historic drought.
2016
Bolivia suffered its worst drought in 25 years. And the very next year, the capital, La Paz, suffered a further historic drought. The water shortages affected 125 000 families and 283 000 hectares of agriculture and led to the declaration of a state of emergency.
2013
The Contraloría General del Estado conducted an environmental audit and published an alarming report revealing the state of contamination. Nonetheless, La Paz doesn't have a main water-treatment plant. José Díaz explains, ‘There is just no space for a plant in La Paz.’
2008
Slaughterhouse modernization, a new water treatment plant that affected the river, and the culverting of its downtown segment have only added to its problems by creating an anoxic site right in the middle of its flow.
1999
Shrinking glaciers, extreme droughts and management challenges threaten Bolivia’s water supply. In the past, these shortages have led to controversy. For example, a series of protests known as the Cochabamba Water War led the government to reverse the privatization of the city’s water.
1993
The Japanese agency JICA helped plan a facility, but work stalled due to a lack of funding. Ten small plants have been built, but a central water-treatment system is needed.
1980
Some of La Paz’s wastewater is treated by small plants spread throughout the city, but only in the most basic and superficial way.
1970
José Díaz, a researcher at the Instituto de Ingeniería Sanitaria y Ambiental at the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés, says that rivers have an auto purification capacity: naturally occurring radiation and water currents cleanse the water. According to Díaz, the "Choqueyapu needed 30 kilometers to clean itself; now it requires 150 kilometers. Additionally, heavy metals from industrial runoff do not evaporate and accumulate in the riverbed".