Just Water Allocation in the Dulcepamba Watershed
"Water is primordial in life for us. It is life for us."
-Farmer, San Pablo de Amalí, Bolívar, Ecuador, 2012
140 communities with a population of about 15 thousand people have, for generations, made their homes on the nutrient-rich Andean slopes in the Dulcepamba micro watershed in Ecuador. This bountiful region lies on the western flanks of the Andes mountain range, within the administrative districts (cantóns) of Chillanes and San Miguel, in Ecuador’s Bolívar Province. The vast majority of the local people dedicate themselves to small-scale agriculture and their fresh, mostly pesticide-free produce supplies both local and national markets in Ecuador.
“The region is known as the breadbasket of Ecuador. It is the paradise of Bolívar.”
- Ramiro Trujillo, Mayor of Cantón Chillanes
Water is abundant in the region, but deceivingly so. The water in the small waterfalls and winding crystalline streams found around every bend, as well as the torrential wintertime flows racing downwards in the principal riverbeds are now coveted by industrial interests from around the world. The communities of the Dulcepamba watershed recognize that in order to ensure smart watershed planning to preserve the health and vibrancy of this region, concrete data is needed on water needs and water supply.
In 2013, the small farming community of San Pablo de Amalí requested in-depth hydrometeorological, land use, and socioeconomic studies to be conducted by qualified environmental analysts, biologists, geotechnical and hydrologic engineers, and economists. Thus, the Dulcepamba Project was born.
Water is a Human Right
Food Sovereignty Challenged in the Breadbasket of Ecuador
In the Dulcepamba watershed, an amazing diversity of crops are intermingled with each other and with the forest, forming a complex agro-ecosystem. The watershed spans several ecological zones: subtropical, cloud forest, and páramo (highlands). Most families have pigs, chickens, and ducks roaming freely about their lands, and many have cows and sheep. Some of the land in the watershed is managed communally, and has been for generations.
One of the “Rights of Good Living” (Art.13) conferred in the Ecuadorian Constitution (2008) is the right to Food Sovereignty: the right of persons, communities, peoples and nations to achieve self-sufficiency with respect to healthy and culturally appropriate food on a permanent basis. (Art. 281) Food Sovereignty was also established to be a “strategic objective and an obligation of the State.”
The Constitution specifies a priority use right for irrigation that contributes to food sovereignty above irrigation by agro-industrial exporters that do not contribute to food sovereignty.
The Constitution also prioritizes irrigation above any industrial uses of water. The Constitution lays out 13 ways in which the state must guarantee Food Sovereignty by protecting and prioritizing small-scale sustainable farming practices.
Yet, industrial interests have threatened to block local access to water. In doing so they are challenging the viability of true food sovereignty in the breadbasket of the country.
Article 282 of the Constitution establishes that, “the monopolizing or privatizing of water and sources thereof” is forbidden. The privatization of water is again forbidden in Article 318, which states that, “water is part of the country’s strategic heritage for public use; it is
Constitution forbids water privatization
the unalienable property of the State and is not subject to a statute of limitations. It is a vital element for nature and human existence. Any form of water privatization is forbidden.”
Yet, a private industrial company has been allowed a concession that puts the water access for existing small-scale farming users at risk.
Constitutional Guarantees
Article 12 of the Ecuadorian Constitution (2008) includes Priority Rights to Water. They are the following:
1. Human consumption and domestic use
2. Water for livestock and irrigation to guarantee food sovereignty
3. Ecological wealth (known in the United States as environmental flows)
4. Industrial activities
Many of the progressive and inclusive ideals adopted by the Ecuadorian State in 2008 have not been upheld in the Dulcepamba watershed. San José del Tambo Hydroelectric Project proponents have put at risk the following Rights, among others, articulated in Ecuador's Constitution:
1. The Human Right to Water (Art. 318), which prioritizes water for human use, livestock, and small-scale farming above use for hydroelectric production, and which explicitly prohibits water privatization.
2. The Right to Free, Prior-Informed Consultation
3. Rights to Private Property
4. Rights to Personal Integrity
5. The Right to live in a healthy environment that is ecologically balanced, pollution-free and in harmony with nature