paraguay: privatizing the guarani
aquifer
The Cuenca del Plata watershed, which
covers a vast area, from Brazil, Bolivia
and Paraguay, through to Argentina and
Uruguay, is Latin America’s second largest
watershed. It also includes the Pantanal,
the world’s largest tropical wetlands
ecosystem. All in all, Cuenca del Plata
represents 30% of the fresh water available
on the planet.
The groundwater Guarani Aquifer system
covers an area of 1.2 million square
kilometres in South America: 70% located in
Brazil, 19% in Argentina, 6% in Paraguay
and 5% in Uruguay. It is capable of
yielding enough water to satisfy the needs
of 360 million people.
Considering present water needs - for
human consumption, agriculture and industry
- and bearing in mind projected demands, it
is perhaps unsurprising that this immense
fresh water reservoir is beginning to
attract the attention of numerous
organizations, including the Organization
of American States, the World Bank, and
various nationallybased international
co-operation agencies.
Traditionally, distribution and
management of water in the region has been
a public service. However, the legal
framework is undergoing structural changes
to permit the introduction of private water
services companies. Besides this threat of
privatization, water resources in Paraguay
are being degraded and misused. Mining
activities and the advance of agribusiness,
specifically in relation to soy
plantations, have caused an increase in the
expropriation of natural resources, the
destruction of biodiversity and the
contamination of water. Governments in the
region are contributing to the destruction,
by pushing to develop 2100 miles of the
regional Paraguay-Paraná river systems into
a massive industrial waterway. Referred to
as Hidrovía, this canal is primarily
intended to lower the cost of exporting
soybeans.
Facing the destruction of watersheds,
rivers and aquifers, many civil society
groups in Paraguay are researching and
campaigning on the underlying causes of
these problems. This work includes
monitoring the operations, policies,
strategies and projects of international
financial institutions (IFIs), which
propose public-private partnerships as a
solution. Such proposals are generally
wholly inadequate, devised by staff in
their Northern headquarters, without real
knowledge of the needs of people living in
the targeted area. In particular, such
partnerships further concentrate public
resources in private hands.
It is important to note that those
activities which require the most water –
and therefore threaten the quality of the
aquifer - are also those being heavily
promoted by IFIs. Massive deforestation to
make way for monoculture crops is
diminishing the infiltration capacity of
the aquifer’s recharge areas - in other
words, it is decreasing the soil’s capacity
to adsorb water. At the same time, the
highly toxic products used in large-scale
export-oriented crop production -
pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers -
are also beginning to pollute the aquifer.
Furthermore, IFIs such as the Inter
American Development Bank (IADB) and the
Andean Development Corporation (CAF) are
promoting industrial development plans
which include large scale infrastructure
schemes such as road corridors, industrial
waterways and mega-dams. Their aim is to
create a new and globally-competitive
industrial region. However, such
development would further pollute the
aquifer and lessen the efficacy of its
recharge areas.
Indeed, industrial development on this
scale could conflict directly with any
potential efforts to introduce
conservation-oriented objectives to protect
key ecosystems, which guarantee the
recharge of the aquifer and keep its water
clean and reliable. It could significantly
increase the risks of any privatization
process, since the IFIs concerned would
undoubtedly be discouraged from promoting
conservation of the aquifer at the expense
of industrial development.
Sobrevivencia/Friends of the Earth
Paraguay is raising awareness of these
issues with local communities and
authorities. They are targeting local and
national legislators as well as regional
agreements promoted by the World Bank and
the Inter American Development Bank.
Sobrevivencia also works at the micro-level
to strengthen the water management capacity
of communities, sharing examples of good
community management and the restoration of
watersheds and aquifers. Other efforts
focus on offering alternatives to
agribusiness and pursuing policies that
promote public and ecological health, food
security and enhanced political
participation.
more information
Sobrevivencia / Friends of
the Earth Paraguay
International Rivers Network
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