The worry: Residents of the cities of Cusco and Santo Tomas (Chumbivilcas) could run out of water in the coming weeks as major water sources are drying up due to a lack of rainfall last season.
Mr. Juan Figueroa, chairman of the board of the Municipal Water Company (Seda Cusco), warned that the imperial city is facing a serious situation due to the reduction of drinking water supplies in the Piure Lagoon.
According to research conducted, the lagoon had a flow rate of 300 liters per second for the past few years, but has now dropped to almost 200 liters per second. This continued decline (about half a centimeter per day) has led to predictions that the city’s residents will run out of drinking water within three months.
Faced with this situation, Seda-Cusco has sent a document to President Dina Boluarte requesting that the scope of the emergency decree be expanded to include the city of Cusco and its region in a state of emergency.
This measure will make it possible to manage a budget of 19 million soles for the work to ensure the drinking water supply of the Piure Lagoon.
Also in St. Thomas, Trumbivelcas, the Aullahuachullo and Characcagua streams that supply the region’s population have had very low flows, so the distribution of treated water from the St. Thomas River has begun. But this measure is not enough.
The situation was complicated by a sharp drop in temperatures to minus two degrees in the high Andean communities of Juracancha and Lorema, in the Lusco district of Cumbivircas state. Alpacas are suffering from pneumonia.
Ing. Samuel Huamani Llamocca, director of the Chumbivilcas Agricultural Agency, expressed concern about the situation and emphasized the importance of implementing planting and rainwater harvesting as viable solutions.
Ing. Lino Mercado Corimanya, director of Kanchis Agricultural Agency, shared the same concern and emphasized the need to urgently address the current situation and implement mitigation and adaptation measures to meet the challenges posed by drought and low temperatures.