Water Rights and the Quechua People

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=water-wars-in-the-andes,

Moray Terraces

http://www.photoseek.com/peru/Peru.html

The Problem Today• More than 2/3 of Peruvians

live in the deserts west of the Andes.

• Lima has a population of about 9 million people.

• Less than 2% of Peru’s water flows in western Peru.

http://wwwp.dailyclimate.org/tdc-newsroom/2009/05/glaciers-go-leaving-drought-conflict-and-tension

Agribusiness in Peru

HOWEVER• In 2002 the water table started dropping, and has

continued to plummet, sometimes as much as eight meters a year.

http://www.treehugger.com/Aerial-view-of-asparagus--006.jpg

•Deserts south of Lima have been transformed into an important agricultural center.•$450 million a year exporting asparagus.•10,000 new jobs

The Solution: Build a water pipeline from the Andes Mountains to Lima?

"Water belongs to the people who need it most, and we need it most." –Gino Gotuzzo, of the Farmers Association of Ica

http://www.pandafunds.com/Portals/0/Water-Pipeline-reduced.jpg

?

The Perspective of the Quechua

Quechuan Llama Herders in the Andes

• Pipeline may dry up mountain wetlands they need to pasture llamas.

• Andean Bogs—a diverse ecosystem which has not been well studied.

http://wwwp.dailyclimate.org/tdc-newsroom/2009/05/glaciers-go-leaving-drought-conflict-and-tension ;

Other concerns for the Quechua

• Recent droughts• Mining is increasing

salinity and decreasing water of pasturelands.

• The people rely on glacier melts to survive during the dry season, but the glaciers are disappearing.

• Warmer temperatures are causing farmers to shift their crops up the mountains.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=water-wars-in-the-andes

Who should have access to the water?

To be continued…

Bibliography

• http://wwwp.dailyclimate.org/tdc-newsroom/2009/10/altered-climate-forces-cultural-change-high-in

• http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=water-wars-in-the-andes, http://wwwp.dailyclimate.org/tdc-newsroom/2009/05/glaciers-go-leaving-drought-conflict-and-tension

• http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=296a2a12-535f-419a-accf-2799ec88792a%40sessionmgr4&vid=2&hid=24

• http://www.peoplesoftheworld.org/text?people=Quichu

• a http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/show/single/en/3891-Peru-s-water-UK-s-asparagus