South America’s Lake Titicaca, the world’s highest navigable lake and home to 3 million people, is experiencing a decline in water levels due to climate change and people’s indiscriminate use of water. According to the Bolivian daily newspaper El DeVere, the Peruvian daily El Comercio, and the U.S. CNN broadcast on the 3rd (local time), the water level of Lake Titicaca, located at 3,310 meters above sea level in the Altiplano Plateau of the Andes Mountains in South America, has been steadily decreasing in recent years.
Sixto Flores, head of the Puno region at the Peruvian Meteorological and Hydrological Institute, told CNN, “From August of last year to March of last year, precipitation in this region was 49% lower than average,” adding that this period includes a rainy season when water levels usually recover.
At the same time, a study examining satellite images from 1992 to 2020 showed that Lake Titicaca was losing about 120 million tons of water per year. Bolivia’s Meteorological and Hydrological Agency recently announced that Lake Titicaca’s water level is 25 cm higher than in 1996, when it was the lowest on record. Bolivia claims that mining activities in the Puno region are destroying lakes, in addition to the global crisis of drought caused by climate change. This means that water from the lake is being used indiscriminately during the mineral washing process, thereby encouraging a decline in water levels.
Edson Ramirez, an expert in the field, said in an interview with Bolivian media that “not only global warming but also man-made problems are worsening this situation. ”
In particular, he said, the Puno River, which flows into Lake Titicaca, contains large amounts of potentially harmful substances such as arsenic, lead, iron, manganese, and sodium. According to data analysed by the Bolivian government, 3 million people, mainly indigenous people including Aymara and Quechua, live around Lake Titicaca.
Native people rely on the lake and mainly engage in fishing, farming, and tourism. This means that a drop in lake water levels could also have a direct hit on the local economy. In fact, in the case of the Uros indigenous people who live on an island made of woven ‘Torora’ reeds, the reeds available have recently decreased and they are urging the authorities to take measures.
Locally, it is believed that water evaporation may have increased due to the record-breaking heatwave this winter, with temperatures exceeding 30 degrees at one point.