Water Scarcity

Water scarcity is a global issue that is becoming increasingly difficult to overcome.

The first time I think I encountered a transport delivered water supply was in Ghana back in 2006, where residents didn't have a water well and had to pay high prices to have their daily water requirements driven to their door.

Here in the deserts of La Guajira, the situation is far more pressing. Whilst living in this desertified region must have always been a difficult prospect at the best of times, the indigenous Wayúu had found a way to exist and thrive, until now. The water wells across the peninsula had been sufficient for the Wayúu to exist until the large mining operations began at the Cerrejón open pit coal mine. This operation has diverted water supply forcing inhabitants to collect water from the capital of Uribia to be transported long distances into the desert so that people can continue to survive on their traditional homelands.

This of course is a gross abuse of human rights against the Wayúu and should never have been permitted by the Colombian government without due care and attention to the needs of local inhabitants.

The water business in Uribia is a daily scene of trucks queuing to collect and transport water across the desert at astronomical cost, but there are also many inhabitants of Uribia's suburban dwellings that are not connected to a water supply, and must transport their water from this same central location back to their homes.

Everyday men like this collect water in plastic cans

and push them via cart to be delivered around town.

The roads are relatively level in town, but become potholed dirt roads further out, which are not easy to negociate with this setup.