30 July - 5 August 2012 - orsam

Bolivia’s Water for Life Law Will Require Industries to Build Treatment Plants
BOLIVIA, LA PAZ — Under Bolivia‘s new ―Water for Life‖ law, factories and other industrial
premises and oil and mining developments located near rivers or other water reserves will be required
to start operating treatment plants, according to Minister of Environment and Water Felipe Quispe.
Qispe was quoted as saying last week that ―with this law we will force all those companies industries,
oilers, miners and others, to treat the water‖ before discharging it.
As part of the process of implementing the law, government officials met this month with irrigation
water users in Cochabamba. Quispe said the new legislation and the tools it provides were key
―because there is concern due to the dumping of polluted water with diverse chemicals in rivers,
lagoons and other reserves.‖
The law declares water a fundamental human right, offers legal protection for water sources and
targets pollution reduction. It also is intended to reduce conflicts over water use permits and
competition among different users, such as industry, agriculture and residential use.
The executive secretary of the Departmental Irrigation Federation of Cochabamba (FEDECOR),
Carlos Camacho, said problems generally arise when communities are deprived of water supply.
FEDECOR became internationally known for its role in the so-called Cochabamba Water War in
2000. The group, which comprises local professionals, engineers and environmentalists, was a
founding member of the umbrella organization Coordinator for the Defense of Water and Life, which
formed the core of opposition to legislation allowing water privatization in the region.
The Water and Environment Ministry met with FEDECOR representatives and representatives of the
Misicuni Multipurpose Water Project earlier this month.
On July 21, the Ministry of Environment and Water reported that the project‘s 120-meter-high dam
was currently 32 percent completed, and work is expected to be finished by October 2013.
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