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Global
Water Watch in the Andes1 Bryan
L. Duncan2 and Sergio
Ruiz-Cordova3 ABSTRACT An
"offspring" of SANREM Philippines experience, the Water Resources
Management and Environmental Education activity in the Andes is
approaching problems of water through community-based, participatory
research. Forty-three citizens in Ecuador and eleven in Peru have become
certified water quality monitors. Under sponsorship of UNORCAC, SANREM's
partner in the Andes, a significant portion of water quality data obtained
is the result of their efforts. Since July 1999 a time series of 2,800
bacteria tests have been done in the Cotacachi area at 219 sites.
Seventy-nine percent of the samples were positive for coliforms and 43%
for E. coli. About 79% of the
sites were found contaminated and municipal authorities are considering
measures to solve the problem. Physical-chemical analyses of surface water
have provided over 485 records. Successful implementation of this work in
Cotacachi has resulted in "scaling up" activities in Ecuador and Peru. An
important outgrowth of the SANREM water monitoring experience has been the
conception and implementation of a Global Water Watch Network, which
extends beyond the "SANREM countries.” PVOs in Brasil and China are the
most recent Auburn partners. An exciting development linking Global Water
Watch Network monitoring programs through a global database is nearing
implementation. INTRODUCTION Scientists, citizens, news media
and other sources are increasingly sounding the global water crisis
alarm. It is a complex and
multi-faceted problem with political, economic, technological and
educational components. The
end result, however, is clear and simple. Many people, particularly in the
developing world, do not have access to enough water, or to safe
water. This condition results
largely from inadequate protection of water resources and lack of
conservation practices on watersheds. In
SANREM project areas in Ecuador local concern is centered on impacts of
water-borne disease on public health. It is the perception of local
citizens that waterborne diseases are increasing. In 1992 a Cholera outbreak in
Ecuador sent a powerful warning to citizens about the risk of disease
related to quality of water.
Negative changes in water quality and quantity are perceived to
have occurred in the last few decades. Many of these changes result from
contamination of water by human and livestock waste, and to land-use
changes.
Author
Contact: Bryan L. Duncan,
Email: duncabl@auburn.edu
1Paper
presented to the SANREM CRSP Research Scientific Synthesis Conference,
November 28-30, 2001, Athens, GA
2Auburn
University, 3Auburn University Most
water supply systems are small and depend upon conveyance of mountain
spring water to community taps or homes with intermittent or no
treatment. They are thus
vulnerable to disruptions and contamination.
Even the city of Quito, capital of Ecuador, has inadequate wastewater
treatment, as the deplorable condition of the Guayllabamba River
attests. Leaching and runoff of pesticides from agricultural and
horticultural crops into public water supplies also concerns local
residents and researchers.
Mining activities in some areas threaten water quality and the
integrity of watersheds by altering natural stream flows and
contaminating surface waters with metals and acid. Other industrial
activities such as leather processing and textile manufacture introduce
toxins to water. Many
citizens do not understand biophysical alterations of water and the
implications of these changes.
Public participation in the processes of environmental
assessment, prescriptions for remediation, policy formulation and
environmental management is required for lasting, positive impact. This emphasizes the need for
public education and skills training for citizen involvement in water
resource management. SANREM’s
emphasis on community-based water monitoring and participatory research is
a response to this need. Several
years ago leaders of UNORCAC (Union de Organizaciones Campesinas e
Indigenas del Canton Cotacachi) communities conducted an “autodiagnostico”
to hear concerns of their citizens. SANREM personnel were invited to
participate in this discussion. Problems of water quality and quantity
were identified by community leaders and members as among their highest
priorities. A Community-Based
Water Quality Monitoring project to address similar concerns had been
implemented several years earlier in the Philippines and was beginning to
have impacts at the local level.
In December 1997 Auburn University and the SANREM-ANDES project
began a water project in Cotacachi, Ecuador in partnership with UNORCAC.
These activities were modeled after the SANREM experience in the
Philippines. The overall goal
is to foster development of community-based water quality monitoring
groups that will collect credible water data. This data will generate
knowledge of water quality and quantity trends that reflect land use and
other watershed conditions, leading to environmental and policy
improvements. Preliminary
SANREM water monitoring activities have begun in Peru, but are progressing
slowly due to inadequate financial resources. METHODOLOGIES
Citizen
groups The
formation and organization of community groups interested in water
monitoring is encouraged and assisted. Workshops and field exercises are
held by Auburn technical personnel and local counterparts to certify
community participants in water quality assessment. Sites to be monitored are selected
by community members in consultation with local
technicians. Monitoring
techniques Training
and monitoring protocols and techniques are modeled after those that have
been developed and used by Alabama Water Watch, a citizen volunteer water
quality monitoring program implemented in the U.S. These protocols and techniques
were developed and compared with laboratory methods, and approved by EPA
for use in Alabama Water Watch based upon submission to EPA of a quality
assurance protocol plan. This
lends credibility to the resulting data. Credible and reliable data,
generated by citizens, has also been demonstrated by the Tigbantay
Wahig, a group of citizen water monitors organized in the
Philippines.
Bacteriological
monitoring of water for human consumption in participating communities and
surface water (streams and springs) is conducted quarterly with assistance
of an Auburn technician. The Coliscan Easygel method for coliform and
fecal coliform testing is used, by Alabama Water Watch as approved by the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in December 1999. This relatively new and
inexpensive technique identifies and discriminates between E.coli
and other fecal coliforms, and quantifies their presence so that water
tested may be described according to international standards of
safety. Physico-chemical
monitoring of water is conducted monthly. Six parameters are tested using a
field kit designed by Alabama Water Watch and manufactured by LaMotte Co.
The tests are based on visual and colorimetric techniques. With adequate training and
supervised practice, community participants with limited education can
measure air and water temperature, pH, hardness, alkalinity, dissolved
oxygen and turbidity with credible accuracy. Data
management Data
is entered into datasheets stored in SANREM computer at Jambi
Mascaric. Monthly data files
are sent via e-mail to Auburn University. Water
monitoring is analyzed, summarized and presented in appropriate formats
for use by citizen groups, educators and local decision makers. The data is made available to
other Andean SANREM researchers for incorporation into models, and for
generating future scenarios.
An integrated relational database is in last stages of development
by Alabama Water Watch at Auburn. This database will be accessible through
a Global Water Watch web page that will allow data entry and acquisition
from each of the Global Water Watch programs in various countries. Cross-site comparisons of water
data will be facilitated; standard protocols to assure data quality will
be more easily sustained; and sharing of experiences between country sites
will be possible. Data
submitted to the database can be analyzed at Auburn in easy to understand
formats and posted to the web site. Partnerships Establishing
and strengthening institutional partnerships and linkages is done through
joint activities with partners, including training workshops, technical
support services, and database development and maintenance. Since
April 1999 four Basic Training Workshops on Water Quality Monitoring have
been conducted in the Andes, three in Ecuador and one in Peru.
Ongoing
water quality monitoring has been conducted by citizen volunteers
coordinated by Mr. Nicolas Gomez, a highly experience UNORCAC
technician. UNORCAC leaders
have visited Alabama and have been hosted by Alabama Water Watch citizen
monitoring groups. Sr.
Nicolas Gomez provides leadership for the UNORCAC Water Commission and for
the water quality-monitoring program in Cotacachi. He is a key collaborator with all
of the SANREM projects associated with UGA and Auburn University. He is well known and accepted in
UNORCAC communities. His ready communication with citizens has stimulated
interest in becoming certified water quality monitors. He has also introduced
environmental education activities in schools. Partnership
with the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador (PUCE) is minimal at
present, but they have expressed interest in assisting with database
management and GIS applications.
During the first years of SANREM in Ecuador PUCE-Q strongly
participated in field activities confirming GIS positioning and mapping of
the watersheds in the UNORCAC area, as well as supporting chemical and
bacteriological monitoring.
PUCE campus in Ibarra is now the stronger partner because of their
proximity to field sites.
Students from the School of Agriculture are participating in field
activities in the Canton Cotacachi and assisting with the coordination of
water quality monitoring, training of citizens and data
management. RESULTS
AND DISCUSSION Findings Chemical
and bacteriological testing has been conducted periodically since July
1999, mainly from community drinking water sources in Cotacachi
Canton. Water sampling sites
for drinking water are springs and associated structures, distribution and
treatment tanks, community and household taps, and household storage
containers. Surface water sites were also sampled. Physico-chemical
analyses of water samples from 113 sites have been reported accounting for
485 records. Seven
bacteriological surveys have tested about 2,800 water samples for coliform
bacteria from 219 sites representing 55 rural communities (45 of these
communities are members of UNORCAC).
·
Water
is unsafe for human consumption in more than half of the forty-five
UNORCAC communities.
Eighty-four percent of the sites tested positive for coliform
bacteria and 32% revealed the presence of E. coli. ·
Of
the grand total of 55 rural communities studied, Coliform bacteria were
found in drinking water of 49 of these communities. E. coli was found in 45% of those water
samples. ·
Contamination
of household water is usually related to the condition of the spring
source (water from 16 spring sources was tested), distribution and storage
boxes, pipes that convey water to the communities and homes, and
containers used used in homes for water storage. Water samples that came from water
previously treated with chlorine in distribution tanks or home storage
containers were free of coliforms. Results of surveys were presented to
the community leaders in each location. ·
Fifty-four
out of sixty-three surface water sites (springs, acequias, rivers, creeks
and the lake) presented E. coli, and all had some degree of
contamination by coliforms.
These included 39 sites from rivers, ten sites in acequias across
the Cotacahi area, and five
sites on Cuicocha Lake.
Samples from the north side of Cuicocha Lake and the Alambuela Bajo
River had low levels of coliform contamination, while the other sites had
unsafe levels of coliform contamination. The use of streams and other
surface water bodies for watering animals, plus lack of vegetative zones
along and around these water bodies are probably the main sources of
contamination. Impacts
Training Fifty-four
volunteers have received formal training and have been certified
as
water quality monitors since April 1999. This includes technicians of
partner organizations. Transferability Peru: Visits to Peru in response to
requests from that country revealed need and a high degree of local
interest in developing water-quality monitoring programs. Intensive mining activities have
degraded many streams. Water
analyses in Quilcas and Junin have confirmed suspicions of citizens about
pollution of their irrigation canal, which receives from the river that
carries sewage from a mining operation upstream. The citizens also have concerns
about other possible contaminants from the mining operation. This has
prompted Yanapai Group leaders to ask for testing for heavy metals. People
with the Water Forever Project (Urpichallay Group) in the Ancash area are
conducting a water-monitoring program in ten sites across the area. Intensive mining has created
concern about pollutants going into streams and into their agricultural
fields. They are measuring
pH, dissolved oxygen, acidity, alkalinity, conductivity, iron and
aluminum. Their techniques
were tested side by side with SANREM techniques at several sites. Measurements were similar with
both kits and suggestions were made for made for improving their
techniques. They were impressed with the ease of use of the SANREM water
testing kit, and requested cooperation with SANREM to find easy to use and
inexpensive tests for lead and arsenic. Investigations by Auburn revealed
that the additional tests requested do not currently lend themselves to
field-testing. They are also
interested in conducting toxicity bioassays using aquatic
macroinvertebrates. Further
development of a SANREM-assisted Peru activity is constrained by lack of
funding resources. China: In
1999 Heifer Project International/China requested Auburn assistance
to initiate water-monitoring activities in communities that they were
assisting with animal production projects. A basic certification workshop was
held for water quality monitors.
HPI/China assigned a staff member to provide leadership for water
monitoring. This activity is
at an early stage and HPI/China is dealing with the challenges of group
organization, acquisition of monitoring kits and supplies, funding of the
effort, and overall objectives of the potential program. The responsible HPI/China staff
member has attended training and conference activities in the U.S. and the
Philippines. The HPI/China
Program Director has also attended a SANREM water monitoring conference in
the Philippines. The overall
effort is an extension of the SANREM Philippines experience of SANREM
partners HPI and Auburn. Brazil: In
1999 an American NGO with community development projects in a number of
countries approached Auburn for assistance with problems of water quality
and quantity on degraded watersheds of a major river valley in northeast
Brazil. Auburn developed a
work plan for a long-term effort based on our experiences with SANREM, and
experiences in Alabama and Haiti.
A community-based, participatory research program has been
initiated. Water monitoring
protocols are identical to those used in SANREM. Water quantity problems are being
vigorously addressed.
Adaptive research in conservation farming methods is being
conducted. The NGO has
adopted the “SANREM approach, is funding their new program, and is making
significant progress institutionalizing the program. Integration
with other SANREM projects in Ecuador Integration
of Water Resources Management and Environmental Education in the Andes
with other projects has recently begun to advance. The Natural Resource Management
project is working on the analysis of social capital and
organizational capacity of secondary-level organizations, and as part of
the research process they encourage reflection on natural resource
conflicts. Management of the
bioreserve, including Lake Cuicocha, is a clear example of this. UNORCAC
has also focused their programs based on micro-watershed planning projects
around water quality in Cotacachi.
UNORCAC leaders have noted the need to seek methods to empower
local communities to take constructive and effective political
action. They also recognize
the need for credible data to support their political action. Hence, the integration of
biological and social projects is necessary and urgent. Political and
institutional analysis should provide an important input into analysis of
the viability and impacts of alternative development
visions. Interactions
have begun this past year with the work plan Effects of Land Use Change
on Long-Term Soil Fertility, Crop Productivity and Water Quality in
Cotacachi. Two
meteorological stations have been set up and climate data is being
collected to serve both work plans.
In addition, this work plan is monitoring the Yanayacu River for
Total Suspended Solids, a water quality parameter also of interest to the
Water Resources work plan. A
comparison will be made of the different methods used by the two work
plans.
The
several work plans of the Andes project have utility for local NRM and
planning. Each will contribute to useful interventions in water, soil
fertility, biodiversity and irrigation management. However, the promise of
this project is to provide an alternative approach to planning, which
explicitly incorporates local perspectives and can back up those proposals
with data and analysis meaningful to stakeholders with whom the future
will be negotiated. Work plan
integration will enhance the potential to estimate the impacts of
alternative development pathways on water supply and quality and aggregate
agricultural output. CONCLUSIONS Effective
community-based water monitoring and participatory research must have
strong, indigenous, institutional backing which targets community members
as the principal actors.
While the structure of such efforts will differ from place to place
in adaptation to social and political realities, capacitation and
empowerment of community members for direct involvement in water
monitoring is seen as the sine qua non of a vigorous and sustained
program. Work must be done to
encourage and enable indigenous institutions and technical resources to
work towards this end. Successful water
monitoring programs will depend upon the technical resources of local
institutions, such as universities, to deliver technical support necessary
for backstopping citizen monitoring.
It also depends upon means of obtaining water testing materials,
and a source of adequate and stable financial resources. It further depends upon
integration and sharing of information and insights among the SANREM work
plans active in Ecuador. The constraints
described above are not insurmountable, particularly where citizens are
convinced of the benefits, and are empowered to impact political decisions
at local levels. The benefits
of a healthy, active and productive water monitoring program are
incalculable for individuals, communities and the environments in which
they live. REFERENCES Deutsch, W. G.
& Busby, A.L. (1999).
Quality Assurance Plan for Bacteriological Monitoring for
Alabama Water Watch. Auburn, Alabama: Auburn
University. Deutsch, W. G.
& Orprecio, J. L. (2000).
Formation, Potential and Challenges of a Citizen Volunteer Water
Quality Monitoring Group in Mindanao, Philippines. In Cultivating
Community Capital for Sustainable Natural Resource Management. Experiences from the SANREM CRSP.
Ed. K. Cason, 62 pp. Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resource
Management Collaborative Research Support Program. |
