Water rationing imposed in 16 Nariño municipalities as El Niño cuts supplies by up to 80%

Water supplies have fallen by as much as 80% in parts of Colombia’s Nariño department, forcing 16 municipalities to impose daily rationing as a severe drought worsens.

Twenty of the department’s 64 municipalities have reported shortages. In 16 of them, authorities have introduced measures to limit consumption, with some communities losing water service for eight hours a day and others for as long as 12 hours.

John Paulo Coral, director of Nariño’s Departmental Water Plan, described the situation as highly complex. Although the rainy season has begun, forecasts indicate that the dry conditions could continue for at least another two months. Officials are working with municipalities to prepare emergency and contingency plans.

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The situation is very complex; although we are just beginning the rainy season, forecasts indicate that it will continue for at least another two months.

The affected municipalities are Ospina, Chachagüí, Mallama, San Bernardo, Gualmatán, Aldana, Arboleda, Túquerres, Ricaurte, Albán, Ancuya, La Llanada, Guaitarilla, Ipiales, Buesaco and Colón. After Nariño declared a public calamity, authorities ordered reviews of local water sources and instructed officials to identify alternatives where supplies are failing.

The contingency measures include plans to obtain tanker trucks and distribute water tanks with support from the departmental water program. Coral said public utility companies must lead the response, but noted that only 32 of the department’s 64 municipalities had submitted the emergency plans required by law. In Pasto, the municipal sanitation company said current supplies should be sufficient to withstand El Niño without imposing rationing.

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The first responders are the public utility companies, and that is where the call must go, because there is a situation that concerns us.