Latin America; in English (pdf) - Transboundary Freshwater Dispute ...

Trekkers washing up with bottled water carried along the trail, Machu P icchu, Peru. Photo credit: Keith Davis.
continent, economic development is often stymied
by lack of sufficient water resources. These
problems, and many others, abound throughout
South America, as hydrological, institutional, and
socioeconomic factors are strained.
3.2.1 Hydrological
3.2.1.1 Distribution: The Amazon,
La Plata, and Orinoco Effect
Because water resources are unequally distributed
throughout the continent, the region may appear
to be water abundant, although in reality, there are
areas that suffer from lack of water. In examining
the total quantity of water resources in South
America, it is impossible not to notice the effect
that the basins of the Amazon, La Plata, and
Orinoco have on the figures. These three river
basins cover 55% of the land area of the entire
continent, but contain only 25% of the population.
If one looks at the international river basins and
countries of Latin America (Figures 1.1 and 1.2),
one can note the extension of these three basins
with respect to the size of the continent. The
disparity between the percentage of water resources
these basins hold compared with the rest of the
continent is even greater: these three basins
account for more than 68% of South America’s
freshwater (Table 3.1). The effect that the Amazon,
La Plata and Orinoco rivers have on the numbers
skews the reality for people living in other places
where water resources are more limited. For
example, the Cancoso/Lauca basin in northern
Chile and southwestern Bolivia and the Silala
River basin (an international body of water not
considered an international river, because of a
dispute between the two countries over whether it
is a river or a transfer), in the same area, are two
examples of transboundary waters that have seen
much conflict—and may see more in the future—
because of the dry region in which they reside.
3.2.1.2 Basic Services
According to the World Health Organization
(WHO 2000), 85% of the population of South
America’s international basins has access to safe
drinking water and 79% has adequate basic
sanitation services. Even though these numbers
appear to be high, both are above the world
average; with such a large population, this
50 — Hydropolitical Vulnerability and Resilience along International Waters: Latin America and the Caribbean