Guatemala News

There is no quick solution to a problem that has been slowly escalating over decades, it normally takes longer to fix a problem then to create one.

So should we declare Lake Atitlan a hopeless case? Absolutely not! The current event of dying mats of the Cyanobacteria floating to the surface should actually be seen as an early warning and that it is time to start to deal with the real problem: contamination. So how do we do that? First of all stop panicking; we normally tend to make bad decisions when in a state of panic. Get scientists, NGO´s, and technicians together to find the solutions and present a plan of how to implement them.

This plan should probably be divided up in short; medium and long term solutions and implementations should take place as soon as they are defined. We don't need to wait 10 years for a state of the art study to take place.
What we have to understand is that the lake can handle a certain amount of contamination and the natural biological and chemical processes that take place in the lakes ecosystem are pretty effective. This is actually the job of, for instance bacteria, cyanobacteria and algae and other plankton, called microorganisms in short, they are really the work horses of this process. Just lowering the factor of Ton/year contamination will greatly help the microorganisms to deal with the problem. We then can work on long term solutions that will help the lake to get back to its former function and beauty.

How could we do this in an intelligent way?
Well first of all, as said before let the experts show us the solutions and give the politicians the tools to finance it and implement it jointly with the population around the lake.

The rehabilitation and implementation of existing treatment plants are the first step. The current situation is that there is no functional treatment plant at the lake, not a single one. If some treatment plants are activated it will have a significant impact in the short term. Most plants could be restored in a few months and new ones could be build in less than a year, if the money and the political will are in place. This will reduce the impact from the bigger population centers such as cities and villages were a sewage grid is in place.

The next step should be to connect households and businesses to an existing sewage system or create new sewage systems where they do not exist.

Legislation and incentives. IT is the government's responsibility to create regulations and laws addressing this problem and most importantly, to ensure the implementation of the laws. This is a task with a variation of difficulties. As an example we have 3 scenarios:

1. A one family farm with an area of 1-2 hectare agriculture operation. This family will probably struggle to put food on the table every day and it is not only difficult but also unethical to force them to install even a simple treatment plant. This could be done however if someone else assumes the initial cost for it. The carrot method should work well.
2. The many hotels, restaurants and other businesses that benefit from the use and the beauty of the lake. IT should be in their own interest to not destroy their main source of income. But unfortunately, the usual myopic Guatemalan business mentality comes into play: "why should I do something when my competition does noting?". Here the stick and carrot method must work. By law the businesses will have to install systems that meet the environmental requirements or they will be shut down until they comply. The carrot approach to business: low interest credits should be provided for purchase and implementation of treatment of solid and liquid waste. The businesses need clear instructions of requirements and implementations. Economical incentives such as tax credits and accessible prices for the equipment they have to install can also work in a positive way.
3. The locally elected authorities, like mayors, who receive funds to install and implement a treatment plant and sewage system and are presented with a realistic plan of implementation with a start and finish date, have to comply. If they do not comply, they have to be subject to the legal consequences.

Midterm to long term actions
For instance, sustainable agriculture and forest management, both would significantly benefit the lake and its water.

With modern and upgraded water treatment plants, the residue would provide an excellent natural fertilizer that could replace currently used chemical products in agricultural management. This will generate a lower environmental impact on the lake. We are actually improving the crops by keeping the lake clean.
Forrest management. Deforestation is one of the biggest environmental and economical problems around the lake. Most of the forests around the lake have been cut down and not been replaced, with earth erosion as a direct result. This leads to a high negative impact of nutrients washed into the lake. It reduced crops both for agriculture and forest operations.

At the villages around the lake, firewood is used for cooking, for cultural reasons and because gas and electricity are more expensive sources of energy. However, the decreased availability of wood is already increasing the price of firewood and the time allotted to collect it. Other alternative energy sources have to be provided to replace firewood as a source of fuel. This has significant economic implications for the population around the lake .
With the right type of treatment plants, perhaps together with sustainable garbage management, biogas could be produced as one of the possible energy sources to replace firewood as energy source. It is possible to generate a surplus of energy that could be sold to other consumers. Energy and income can be generated by cleaning the lake and keeping the lake clean.

As we can see, by keeping the lake clean we can also create positive side effects apart from the obvious economic effects on the tourism industry. Clean water will be one of the most expensive and scarcest commodities of the world. Clean water sources is good business for everyone.

In short, keeping Lake Atitlan clean is not just a cost, it is a very good investment both in the short and long term.

An action plan has been presented by the goverment and could be found here (in spanish).

Photo Jack Cooper