There are high probabilities that Lima will run out of water in the next rainy season

He climate change It has been making it clear to us that it is not an empty concept, as some think. In recent months, we have experienced natural disasters related to this problem. First was the Cyclone Yakuand then the effects of El Niño Costero Phenomenonand is expected The Global Child. Million-dollar material losses and some deaths have already occurred in the coastal cities. Inevitably, the memory of the tragic beginning of the year 2017 that left 101 victims comes back.

The president Dina Boluarte, in a conference on March 23, recognized that the country will suffer the effects of the El Niño Costero and El Niño Global phenomena. Along these lines, he announced measures to mitigate the effects among the population, especially in the north of the country.

In said presentation before the press, after an extraordinary session of the Council of Ministers, the Prime Minister Alberto Otárolaannounced that the Multisectoral Commission in charge of the National Study of the El Niño Phenomenon (sick) reported on March 16 that “we are facing an alert stage of the Coastal Child.”

Although to date it cannot be predicted whether the effects of the Coastal El Niño and Global El Niño will be similar to what was suffered in 2017, there is concern about repeating that scenario. Let us remember that in that year, there was a strict plan of water rationing in Lima by sedapal, due to the severe huaicos that fell. In that year, the government arranged for tanker trucks to approach the affected districts in order to supply some water for the residents. Could that scenario be repeated? Are we ready to face a similar situation again?

The engineer Manuel Collas Chaveza specialist in hydrology and professor of the Civil Engineering degree at the UPC, pointed out: “There is a high probability of running out of water during the next rainy season from January to March 2024, if sedapaland the different ministries and institutions of the current government, such as: Housing, Agriculture, Transport and Communications, Senamhi, National Water Authority, the Geophysical Institute of Peru, among other institutions, do not take the forecasts of the case.

The specialist explains to infobae that the contribution of mud, stones and high concentration of sediments in suspension and drag, during the rainy season and by the El Niño Phenomenonlimit the collection of water from the Rímac river by Sedapal for the supply of drinking water for the city of Lime. What happened in 2017?

Collas explains that in said year, with the arrival of the El Niño Phenomenon, there was a shortage of water for the population, “due to not fully capturing the waters of the rimac river due to the high concentrations of sediments in suspension and drag that the river had”.

He specified that, since then, nothing has been done to prevent this from happening again. “What happens is that the different institutions of our country act reactively and there is no culture of prevention”.

As a recommendation, the specialist pointed out that, in principle, the government, through the different institutions, has to carry out hydraulic works aimed at reducing the contributions of mud, stones, suspended sediments and drag from the streams that are tributaries. of the rimac river. “Such as the geodynamic barriers implemented by the National Water Authority in the sector of Chosica”.

Likewise, he mentioned that it is essential to build transversal dikes in the ravines that are activated in the rainy season and that contribute a lot of drag material, mud, stones and sediments in suspension to the Rímac river that limit the collection of water for population use by sedapal in the sector of culvert.

Finally, he expressed the need for the competent authorities to enforce the current regulations of Faja Marginal de los Rimac, Lurin and Chillon rivers and its different tributaries.

For the preparation of this article, Infobae sought for several days to communicate with representatives of Sedapal and Sunass, but we did not get a response at the end of the note.

Sedapal ruled on the possibility that Lima will be without water supply during the next rainy season.

They clarified that, after the start of Cyclone Yaku, which caused heavy rains in Peru, they have intensified their technical effort in order to ensure water for Lima and Callao.

They also reported that, given an increase in the flow of the Rímac and Chillón rivers, they will activate 489 drinking water supply points and will also send tanker trucks to provide water to the public.

Regarding the water wells they have, they assured that they have 424 at their disposal, which are operating normally by permanently producing drinking water.