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

Urubamba River, Peru. Photo credit: Keith Davis.
reasons suggested for why this is the case, from
lack of education of the people in the basin to
lack of outreach by ALT to the fact that engineers
run most of the organization and their “culture” is
thought to look at the technical aspects of the
situation, rather than the human aspect (Roneltap
et al. 2004). As this area of both countries has
been volatile in the past, with rural uprisings due
to disagreements between the people and the
federal governments and, at least on the Bolivian
side, the population living around Lake Titicaca
does not look at ALT in a positive light, these play
large roles in how susceptible the basin is to
potential disputes.
The second factor that contributes to
vulnerability which ALT has not been able to
make much progress in is the level of poverty that
the basin experiences. The poverty levels of both
countries in the Lake Titicaca basin, as mentioned
earlier, hover around 70%. With such high
indexes, successful management is hindered by
the lack of basic needs. The population in the
basin on the Peruvian side of the border only has
19% coverage of adequate drinking water and
20% for basic sanitation services. The Bolivians
are better off in terms of drinking water at 24%
coverage, but sanitation is at a lowly 13%
(UNESCO 2003b). Improvements in basic
services need to be carried out before proper
governance can take hold of the basin.
As an institution, ALT operates smoothly and
has been very successful at the initiatives it has
set out to accomplish (UNESCO 2003b).
Although there have been tensions between the
national governments of the basin-states and
their citizens regarding Lake Titicaca, the two
countries have been very close neighbors. The
resiliency of the organization runs deep and if
more programs are implemented that increase
Dog on board, Amazon boat. Photo credit: Iva Nafzinger.
Chapter 3. Hydropolitical Vulnerability, South America — 73