La Paz at risk of drying out

Lea writes*

Since the turn of the century, water management in Bolivia has been a never-ending rollercoaster of shifting governance and responsibility. Previously, inhabitants of El Alto and La Paz experienced resource shortages and horrendous water quality due to corruption under the service of the private company “Aguas de Illimani”. The situation became so drastic that citizens began to strike and demonstrate against private water. Known as the water wars, individuals nationwide demanded a reformation of the water management. As a consequence of a political socialist uprising during that time period, water was finally proclaimed a human right in 2009 under the newly elected president Evo Morales. The right of water regulation was transferred to EPSAS, a public wastewater and metropolitan drinking water company.

People were hopeful the situation would finally change, however it never really did. In November 2016, La Paz and El Alto experienced their worst water scarcity crisis to date. A combination of low precipitation, high temperatures leading to increased glacier melting, and intensified southern oscillation of El Niño forced the company to ration water supplies for two months. La Paz has yet to recover from the drought and the government still struggles to provide safe, sufficient and easily accessible water for all sectors of the city.

La Paz and El Alto receive their water supply from the mountain catchments in Cordillera Real. Three main dams (Inkachaka, Ajunkota and Hampaturi dams) stationed within this region capture glacial meltwater which is then passed through four different treatment plants. However, water levels are falling due to increasing population, intensive industrialization and climate change. Households have experienced improvement in the water supply, but especially in rural areas they are still struggling to be supplied with water. El Alto’s and La Paz’s unique geographical characteristics due to being situated in the basin of the Andes Mountain range significantly complicates the challenge of water distribution 3600 meters above sea level. As early as 2025, the water system supplying El Alto specifically is expected to have severe water shortages.

Bottom Line: Privatization and municipalization have both failed to resolve the water crisis and deliver adequate living conditions to the population. Appropriate or innovate approaches need to be taken instead to ensure sustainable and fair management of the resource if the citizens still want to have sufficient water resources in the future. Pipes need to be restored, water lines extended, waste water plants made more efficient. National taxes can be augmented to cover the costs of the system renewal and avoid dependence on external support. Most importantly, a competent and motivated organization must attempt to effectively take into consideration economic, social, political and geographical challenges of water management in La Paz and El Alto and commit themselves to saving the habitants of this unique city from a rigorous drought.


* Please help my Water Scarcity students by commenting on unclear analysis, alternative perspectives, better data sources, or maybe just saying something nice 🙂

Author: David Zetland

I'm a political-economist from California who now lives in Amsterdam.

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