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In Pictures: Urban Population Boom Threatens Lake Titicaca

January 17, 2012 | The Guardian
By
Noah Friedman-Rudovsky, El Alto, Bolivia

Lake Titicaca, the largest lake in South America, appears to be a majestic pristine body of water. But the areas along its shores, near villages and cities, are quickly becoming contaminated, endangering the livelihoods of indigenous people across the Bolivian and Peruvian sides of the lake. Image by Noah Friedman-Rudovsky. Bolivia, 2011.

Aymara women cross a bridge of rocks on the shores of Lake Titicaca. The lake's water is increasingly contaminated by rivers that pass through the industrial city of El Alto. By the time the water reaches the lake's shores it is highly contaminated, affecting the ecosystem and local residents. These communities rely on potato crops, fishing, and cattle for subsistence. Image by Noah Friedman-Rudovsky. Bolivia, 2011.

Water from the Huayna Potosi glacier near El Alto, Bolivia provides drinking water for over a million people on Bolivia's high plains. Image by Noah Friedman-Rudovsky. Bolivia, 2011.

But the water is quickly contaminated as it runs downstream. Image by Noah Friedman-Rudovsky. Bolivia, 2011.

Water fills a reservoir right below the Huayna Potosi glacier near El Alto, Bolivia. Image by Noah Friedman-Rudovsky. Bolivia, 2011.

Crystal clear water of the Seco River runs from Bolivia's glaciers into the city of El Alto, where it is inundated with garbage and sewage. What was once a shantytown perched next to the city of La Paz is now a political and industrial powerhouse of about 1 million people that has grown by nearly 50 percent since 2000. Despite this boom, the chronic poverty and lack of access to services historically faced by Bolivia’s indigenous people persist in El Alto. Image by Noah Friedman-Rudovsky. Bolivia, 2011.

During the dry season, from May through November, the River Seco is just a trickle fed by wastewater from homes, slaughterhouses, tanneries and mining operations. Along its course through El Alto its waters run red with blood, vivid green with algae, black with oil and a thick brilliant rust color from mineral processing. The riverbed also doubles as a dump - plastic bags, rotting food, tires, dead dogs and feces line its banks. The water smells sharp and bitter. When the rainy season arrives in December, everything sweeps toward the lake. Image by Noah Friedman-Rudovsky. Bolivia, 2011.

Sewage flows into a treatment pond on the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca. Recently the Peruvian government has stepped up efforts to reduce contamination from garbage and sewage after the bay became filled with duckweed. Yet efforts have so far come up short, and most of this waste water seeps directly into the lake. Image by Noah Friedman-Rudovsky. Peru, 2011.

Rigoberto Rios Miranda has lived for decades along the Pallina River which is a tributary to Lake Titicaca in Bolivia. He says that when he was younger the water was crystal clear and full of fish; now he can't even let his cows drink from it. Image by Noah Friedman-Rudovsky. Bolivia, 2011.

Water runs down from Bolivia's glaciers, through rivers that pass the city of El Alto, and finally arrives at Lake Titicaca, contaminating the shores and bay areas where most of the lake population lives. Image by Noah Friedman-Rudovsky. Bolivia, 2011.

The Pallina River, a tributary to Lake Titicaca in Bolivia, is now highly polluted, but many residents still rely on its water for household use. Just two decades ago its water was crystal clear and full of fish. Image by Noah Friedman-Rudovsky. Bolivia, 2011.

Puno, on the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca, is the largest city on its shores. Recently the Peruvian government has stepped up efforts to reduce contamination from garbage and sewage after the bay became filled with duckweed. As Puno grows so does its effect on the bay. In 2007 its surface was a vivid, electric green that looked more like a broad expanse of grass than water due to uncontrolled growth of duckweed. That plant growth, which resulted from an overabundance of nutrients caused by household sewage run-off, creates a lack of oxygen in the water and chokes off much life below the surface. Image by Noah Friedman-Rudovsky. Peru, 2011.

Marcelino Coila Choque, an Aymara fisherman, has made his living fishing for his entire life, but now he only finds small fish known as Karachia, in his net. He worries that because of pollution and over-fishing there will be no fish left in the lake for his children's generation. Image by Noah Friedman-Rudovsky. Peru, 2011.

Aymara fisherman at dawn on Lake Titicaca near the city of Puno, Peru. Pollution and over-fishing are killing off the fish population of the lake in recent years. Image by Noah Friedman-Rudovsky. Peru, 2011.

Fishermen on Lake Titicaca now find trash and algae filling up their nets rather than fish. Image by Noah Friedman-Rudovsky. Peru, 2011.

Aymara people on the shores of Lake Titicaca in Bolivia live mainly from potato farming, fishing, and herding sheep and cattle. Their lives have changed drastically in recent years as pollution has made water sources poisonous for their animals and crops and caused fish to die off. Image by Noah Friedman-Rudovsky. Bolivia, 2011.

Aymara people on the shores of Lake Titicaca in Bolivia live mainly from potato farming, fishing, and herding sheep and cattle. Image by Noah Friedman-Rudovsky. Bolivia, 2011.

Aymara families on the shore of Lake Titicaca now dig themselves wells because the river and lake water nearby is so contaminated. Image by Noah Friedman-Rudovsky. Bolivia, 2011.

South America's most famous lake is being polluted by increasing levels of waste from fast-growing cities in Bolivia and Peru. The pollution threatens the health and livelihoods of communities along the lake's shores.