Author: Emma Lodes
In the midst of the crystalline peaks and icy pinnacles of the Peruvian Andes, the Rio Rimac is born, and its story begins. From snowy mountains to the Pacific Ocean on its desert coast, the Rimac supplies water to most of Peru, including its capital, Lima. But due to rapidly escalating climate change, the river will eventually run dry.
Climate change is perhaps the most inherently global issue because it affects everyone. Peru’s river crisis foreshadows comparable climate crises throughout the world. Water security should be one of the most pressing items on the international agenda now. But because the issue is often merely perceived as a distant threat, it is difficult to get the world as excited about melting glaciers and reservoirs as they would be, say, about a bloody civil war. The country happens to be the first severely affected by climate change-related water shortages, but other major cities could soon follow.
In Peru, the Rimac River has a critical function.The river flows through villages and small farms that line the lush Andean foothills, providing peasants and farmers with drinking and irrigation water. Then it feeds the many copper and silver mines that provide Peru with its main exports and the hydroelectric plants that power the country. Sixteen thousand feet down and one hundred miles later, the river reaches Peru’s parched desert coast and Lima to supply the city’s nine million residents with four-fifths of their water before spilling into the ocean. One would think that the Rimac does more than enough of its share. It’s not nearly enough.
The issue is at the river’s source – glaciers. By now, it’s common knowledge that they’re melting fast. And Peru’s glaciers are melting fastest of all. Peru is home to seventy percent of the world’s “tropical glaciers” – glaciers that sit at lower altitudes and hover constantly at melting point. Glaciologists predict that in the next 10 years, all glaciers below five thousand feet of altitude will become puddles. Those soon-to-be-puddles are the Rimac’s source. In a few decades Peru’s tap will run dry. As of now, there’s no backup plan.
Peru is a classic example of a country that is at high risk of climate disaster but doesn’t have the necessary economic capabilities or infrastructure to respond. According to the International Development Research Center, it’s the third most vulnerable country to climate change hazards, following only Honduras and Bangladesh. There isn’t much Peru can do about the melting glaciers, but it can revamp an inefficient water management system by introducing water rations, installing reservoirs and efficient distribution systems and recycling wastewater. These reforms will be difficult to realize due to Peru’s limited budget, less-than-adequate infrastructure and flawed governance, but Peru will have to lead the way in preparing for a water crisis that could easily become a reality elsewhere.
Right now, Peru’s water management is still leagues behind Los Angeles’ and is very inefficient. 40 percent of the Rimac’s flow dumps right into the ocean – that is water that could be used by millions of thirsty people in Lima. A sprawling metropolis of nine million, Lima is the second most populous desert city in the world after Cairo, and not unlike Cairo, it is a city of divisive inequalities. On average, people in Lima consume far more water than in most other big South American cities. At the same time, almost a quarter of Lima’s population live in slums surrounding the city, and one million people don’t have treated running water. While 120 parks and gardens grace Lima’s center, many slum dwellers are forced to construct devices to catch the marine fog that constantly shrouds Lima and filter it into usable, albeit undrinkable, water. They’re called fog catchers, and their numbers are increasing. In an effort to help the poor, the city released a fleet of water trucks to cart jugs to the slums. However, that water costs 20 times more than the city tap water squandered by wealthy Lima city dwellers taking their long showers.
Perhaps through pressure from the international community, the Peruvian government can adequately make their state water utility system more efficient. But Peru needs more than just structural advice; it needs funding. According to UN statistics, climate issues like disappearing water sources end up affecting far more people than violent conflict – indirectly. And like most natural disasters, they affect the poor the most. For those without the capacity to address these resource disasters, like Peruvians living in the slums around Lima, the results could be catastrophic. If Peru cannot do so alone, the international community must intervene.
It’s only a matter of time before we are all affected by climate change. Peru is unique in that it’s home to most of the world’s low-altitude glaciers, but there are many cities fed by runoff from glaciers that will soon be melting at the same pace. Los Angeles is vulnerable in that, like Lima, it was originally a desert. If 120 fountains and parks in Lima’s center are considered lavish, Occidental students should think about the lush green lawns, palm trees and tropical flora that define L.A., that define their campus. None of that should really be here. Comparing Los Angeles to Lima is legitimate; Los Angeles actually has a similar climate. Pretty soon, the city will have to resort to being fog catchers ourselves. Well, maybe not tomorrow, but the threat exists. In elevating Peru’s water crisis to the international level, climate change may finally be framed as the rapidly escalating, global calamity that Peruvians are discovering the hard way.
Emma Lodes is an undeclared first-year. She can be reached at lodes@oxy.edu. Do you have an opinion on this issue? If so, keep the conversation going and comment on this article at occidentalweekly.com or write a Letter to the Editor.
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