Colombia's Buenaventura Faces Decades-Old Water Crisis Amidst Funding Gaps

Buenaventura, Colombia's main Pacific port city, has grappled with a water crisis for approximately half a century, with its existing aqueduct system providing potable water only every three days to its roughly 350,000 inhabitants. This chronic shortage has been intensified by recent damage to a 39-inch pipe, which supplies water to over 70% of the city across 12 districts.

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The national government has established granting 274.719 billion pesos in 11 projects until 2029, of which, in this 2026, 56 billion pesos have been allocated for the start of three works.

The damage has severely impacted residents, particularly in communes 1 through 11, leading to widespread service disruptions. The national government has announced plans to allocate 274.719 billion pesos (approximately $70 million USD) across 11 projects by 2029, with 56 billion pesos earmarked for the start of three projects in 2026, including the Viaduct Line 39. The government attributes the recent pipe damage to a lack of maintenance and preventive measures, holding the Buenaventura Mayor's office responsible.

However, leaders from the Civic Strike Committee, formed in 2017 to protest state neglect, argue that the funds required to address Buenaventura's water, sanitation, infrastructure, health, and education needs over the next decade exceed 10 trillion pesos (approximately $2.5 billion USD). They claim that previous presidential administrations have only promised over 1.6 trillion pesos, with little tangible progress.

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The monies that the port city demands for the aqueduct, basic sanitation, and other aspects related to infrastructure, health, and education exceed 10 trillion pesos to be executed over a decade.

The National Planning Department (DNP) stated that 43.195 billion pesos have been transferred to "Improvement of the aqueduct and sanitation systems in the industrial, port, biodiverse, and ecotourism district of Buenaventura." This measure, approved on June 5, 2026, aims to expedite the start of works in 2026 to address historical problems with water continuity, quality, and system losses, according to DNP Director Natalia Irene Molina.

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We have managed the transfer of 43.195 billion pesos... to accelerate the start of works in 2026 to address one of Buenaventura's main needs: advancing the solution of historical problems of continuity and quality, as well as reducing losses in the aqueduct system.