The Piura region in northern Peru is facing a historic water crisis, with only 14 million cubic meters of water in the Poechos dam, a volume that only covers consumption for one month. The situation has put the College of Biologists of Peru (CBP) on alert , warning of the risk of an epidemic in the context of the poor water infrastructure and the lack of storage measures in the region, as the website Infobae reports.
The institution warned in a statement that, due to the lack of drinking water , thousands of inhabitants are choosing to buy water sources of dubious origin at a price of up to 50 soles per cubic meter, which puts public health at risk and increases exposure to serious diseases.
Claudia Quezada Osorio , an infectious disease specialist and tropicalist with EsSalud’s Piura Healthcare Network, told Infobae that diseases such as leptospirosis, dengue , and various gastrointestinal, parasitic, and dermatological infections can spread rapidly due to a lack of safe drinking water and adequate sanitary conditions. The region is already facing a serious dengue outbreak, with 699 new cases in October , bringing the annual total to 34,561 cases. The crisis is especially affecting rural areas that lack adequate sanitation infrastructure.
The water supply is not only limited, but when water does arrive, it is of poor quality. In several sectors, such as the district of Salitral and the Santa Margarita urbanization, episodes of water with a bad smell and yellowish color were reported. Neighbors reported gastrointestinal illnesses, such as diarrhea and vomiting in adults and children. Similar cases were reported in the district of Veintiséis de Octubre , where a girl had to be hospitalized for a stomach infection. Faced with this problem, Dr. Quezada recommended preventive measures such as proper cleaning of storage containers, proper sealing of them, and boiling water before consumption.
Unequal access
The water crisis in Piura has deepened inequalities in access to water, affecting homes, schools and hospitals. Prices for supplies vary from 10 soles in rural communities to 70 soles in urban areas.
The water crisis is also creating significant gaps in the local economy, with direct consequences for food production. The suspension of water for small farmers in the Chira Valley has dried up rice and banana crops, two products vital to the survival of the region. Food shortages are driving up prices and increasing the rate of child malnutrition, currently at 12.8%, a figure that could increase if the situation persists.
María del Rosario Villa Robles , dean of the CBP, regretted that opportunities to store water were not taken advantage of after the passage of Cyclone Yaku and the Coastal El Niño Phenomenon in 2023. “We urge the Central Government to implement urgent measures and not more palliatives,” said Villa Robles, stressing that this crisis is shared with Ecuador, a neighboring country also affected by water infrastructure problems.
Possible solutions
The College of Biologists of Peru proposed a series of measures to strengthen the response to the water crisis. In the short term, it suggests enabling underground wells through maintenance and renewal of equipment. In the medium term, it proposes drilling new wells more than 100 meters deep, and in the long term, building new reservoirs, since the two current ones, Poechos and San Lorenzo, are clogged due to lack of maintenance.
The institution also emphasizes the implementation of desalination plants to provide an additional source of purified seawater, and the use of drone technology in the agricultural sector to monitor irrigation and prevent waste. Finally, it requires that agro-industrial companies secure their own water sources, underground wells and reservoirs, and not depend on public reserves for the irrigation of their crops.
