Have you ever wondered where your water comes from? If you’re reading this article, chances are you are part of the 91% of the world population with access to clean and safe water to drink. You only need to open your faucet and water will come pouring right out. But, have you ever really thought about where it actually comes from and how it manages to get to your home?
At this moment, 9% of the global population is uncertain about the availability of water they need for their everyday lives. The latest data provided by the World Health Organisation and Unicef in their Progress on Sanitation and Drinking Water report (2015), shows that there are still 663 million people without access to improved drinking water sources, and the number goes up to 2.4 billion people in terms of sanitation. Out of this number, 946 million still defecate in the open, polluting lands and water sources.
There is an underlying myth that water scarcity is at the source of the problem, yet physical availability is just part of the issue. According to the UN’s Human Development Report of 2006, the problem lays on management, since “most countries have enough water to meet household, industrial, agricultural and environmental needs”. Take Latin America for example: even though it is one of the regions with most abundance of water per capita (it has between 28% and 31% of the global freshwater resources), there are still 36 million people without access to safe water.
A closer look at Colombia shows that, according to its National Water Study 2014, it has six times more water than the global average and three times that of Latin America. However, it is estimated that 80% of Colombia’s population has access to just 21% of the total supply of surface water in the country.
In Bogotá, for instance, the water demand is higher than the supply, resulting in communities with very little or no access at all, and a stress state for the Chingaza watershed, the city’s main water source. However, it is not just the quantity that is affecting the communities and the river basin, but quality is also at risk: as in many of the most stressed watersheds, it is often compromised by pollution. A polluted water source increases the risk of sickness not just of the environment but of the people and communities that depend on it for their survival.
If a watershed becomes polluted, it would not only carry contaminated water that would most likely poison humans and animals that consume it, but it would also infect the soil and the trees in the surrounding areas, disturbing the whole ecosystem. We humans are more vulnerable to an unhealthy watershed than any of the other living things, as we depend on its soil to cultivate foods, on animals to feed us, on the plants and trees to produce oxygen, and on its water to drink, irrigate and use to manufacture goods that we will later consume. Even without being an environmentalist, it is easy to see that we are more susceptible if our water sources are unhealthy.
The Chingaza watershed is not only being depleted faster than it can recharge itself, but it is also being severely polluted, as evidenced by the government’s latest National Water Study. Focusing on five main indicators (biochemical oxygen demand [biodegradable organic waste], chemical oxygen demand [chemical waste], total suspended solids [sediments], total nitrogen and total phosphorus) the study tested the quality of water nationwide and concluded that Bogotá is the main polluter in Colombia.
A contradictory panorama lies ahead: Bogotá’s inhabitants not only lack water to meet their everyday needs, but are also the main contributors of pollution of the little water they can access. Domestic input – a sector where water treatment processes are still in development – is the major contamination source of the watershed.
Right now, the Chingaza and nearby river basins are in critical state and should be prioritised in order to repair the damages to the ecosystem. Regulating illegal hunting, fighting deforestation, and educating the population about water pollution and how to best reduce it, are only a few of the challenges ahead for Colombian people. They cannot afford any more harm to the Chingaza watershed, as it is the main water source for Colombia’s capital and a key driver of economic growth.
Can the harm sustained by this ecosystem be undone? The answer is a management puzzle with a lot of different pieces and actors wanting a say in its solution. But not all is lost: a glimmer of hope remains as organisations from the public, private, social and academic sectors join forces in an effort to restore the watershed’s health to secure water availability and quality. Stay tuned for our upcoming article, in which we’ll introduce some of the organisations that are currently working towards water security in the region.
Content on this page is paid for and provided by FEMSA Foundation, a sponsor of theGuardian Global Development Professionals Network.
