Pollution in the Pilcomayo: Mining and Indigenous Communities

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Case Description

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Geolocation:	-22° 2' 17.2448", -62° 41' 0.9365"
Total Population	290290,000,000 millionmillion
Climate Descriptors	Humid mid-latitude (Köppen C-type)
Predominent Land Use Descriptors	agricultural- cropland and pasture, conservation lands, mining operations, rangeland, religious/cultural sites
Important Uses of Water	Agriculture or Irrigation, Fisheries - wild, Mining/Extraction support, Recreation or Tourism

Summary

The Pilcomayo River is experiencing considerable pollution from mining activities in Bolivia, affecting the downstream riparians Argentina and Paraguay. The pollution is problematic in particular for indigenous communities who live from the river, and studies have found symptoms of heavy metal exposure among them. Even though the three countries have an exemplary framework for joint basin management, the pollution issue has so far not been addressed. The key reason is that indigenous communities are not represented by their national governments, shifting the conflict to the domestic level. Broader stakeholder participation could be an effective measure to bring the conflict to the table and developing the tourism industry in Bolivia could help to resolve it.

Issues and Stakeholders

Pollution

NSPD: Water Quality
Stakeholder Types: Sovereign state/national/federal government, Industry/Corporate Interest, Community or organized citizens

There is significant pollution with heavy metals from mining operations in Bolivia, affecting water users downstream in Argentina and Paraguay, in particular indigenous communities.

Analysis, Synthesis, and Insight

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Key Questions

Power and Politics: To what extent can international actors and movements from civil society influence water management? How and when is this beneficial/detrimental and how can these effects be supported/mitigated?

Several important donors have been active in the Pilcomayo Basin. Also, there are budding initiatives by indigenous groups to organize. The question is, to what extent these forces from above and below are effective in asserting tighter control over pollution.

Tagged with: tailings stakeholder participation indigeneous populations